Mammography screening and mortality by risk status in the California teachers study

Background The debate continues among medical professionals regarding the frequency, starting age, and stopping age for mammography screening. Some experts suggest tailoring recommendations based on individuals’ personal breast cancer risk. Previous studies have not compared the impact of annual versus biennial mammography stratified by age group and risk category. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mammography frequency and mortality by age group and risk category in the California Teachers Study. Methods Using data from study questionnaires from 93,438 women between the ages of 40 and 85 and linkages to the California Cancer Registry and other indices, overall and breast cancer-specific mortality by mammography frequency were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, stratified by age group and risk category at baseline as determined by the Gail breast cancer risk model. Results During the follow-up period of 20 years, overall mortality risk was lower in women who had annual or biennial mammography compared to less frequent or no mammography in all age groups. Annual mammography was associated with lower overall mortality risk compared to biennial mammography among women age 50–85. This difference was especially apparent in women age 60–74, regardless of estimated Gail risk category at baseline. Breast cancer-specific mortality was lower among women who had annual mammography compared to biennial or less frequent mammography among women age 60–74, regardless of their baseline risk. Conclusions Our findings suggest that at least biennial mammography is beneficial to most women age 40–85 and that annual mammography is more beneficial than biennial mammography to most women age 50–85 in terms of overall mortality.

Association of circulating leptin, adiponectin, and resistin concentrations with long-term breast cancer prognosis in a German patient cohort

Adipokines including leptin, adiponectin and resistin have been linked to risk of obesity-related cancers potentially through low-grade chronic inflammation pathways. We aimed to assess the role of post-diagnosis circulating adipokines on long-term prognosis in a prospective breast cancer cohort. Adipokines were measured in blood collected at baseline shortly after diagnosis (2002–2005) and at follow-up (2009) from 3112 breast cancer patients enrolled in the population-based MARIE study. Half of the patients had measurements at both time-points. All-cause mortality, breast cancer specific mortality and recurrences were ascertained up to June 2015 (11 years median follow-up). Associations with time-varying adipokine concentrations overall and stratified by estrogen and progesterone receptor (ERPR) were evaluated using adjusted proportional hazard regression. At baseline (n = 2700) and follow-up (n = 2027), median concentrations for leptin, adiponectin and resistin were 4.6 and 2.7 ng/ml, 24.4 and 30.0 mg/l, 15.4 and 26.2 ng/ml, respectively. After adjustment, there was no evidence for associations between adipokines and any outcome overall. In ERPR negative tumors, highest vs. lowest quintile of adiponectin was significantly associated with increased breast cancer specific mortality (HR 2.51, 95%CI 1.07–5.92). Overall, post-diagnosis adipokines were not associated with long-term outcomes after breast cancer. In patients with ERPR negative tumors, higher concentrations of adiponectin may be associated with increased breast cancer specific mortality and warrant further investigation.

Correction to: Factors associated with late risks of breast cancer‑specific mortality in the SEER registry

The article “Factors associated with late risks of breast cancer‑specific mortality in the SEER registry”, written by José P. Leone, Carlos T. Vallejo, Michael J. Hassett, Julieta Leone, Noah Graham, Nabihah Tayob, Rachel A. Freedman, Sara M. Tolaney, Bernardo A. Leone, Eric P. Winer and Nancy U. Lin, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal on April 24, 2021 without open access. With the author(s)’ decision to opt for Open Choice the copyright of the article changed on May 11, 2021 to © The Author(s) 2021 and the article is forthwith distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.

Mortgage Lending Bias and Breast Cancer Survival Among Older Women in the United States

PURPOSE The objective was to examine the relationship between contemporary redlining (mortgage lending bias on the basis of property location) and survival among older women with breast cancer in the United States. METHODS A redlining index using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data (2007-2013) was linked by census tract with a SEER-Medicare cohort of 27,516 women age 66-90 years with an initial diagnosis of stage I-IV breast cancer in 2007-2009 and follow-up through 2015. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the relationship between redlining and both all-cause and breast cancer–specific mortality, accounting for covariates. RESULTS Overall, 34% of non-Hispanic White, 57% of Hispanic, and 79% of non-Hispanic Black individuals lived in redlined tracts. As the redlining index increased, women experienced poorer survival. This effect was strongest for women with no comorbid conditions, who comprised 54% of the sample. For redlining index values of 1 (low), 2 (moderate), and 3 (high), as compared with 0.5 (least), hazard ratios (HRs) (and 95% CIs) for all-cause mortality were HR = 1.10 (1.06 to 1.14), HR = 1.27 (1.17 to 1.38), and HR = 1.39 (1.25 to 1.55), respectively, among women with no comorbidities. A similar pattern was found for breast cancer–specific mortality. CONCLUSION Contemporary redlining is associated with poorer breast cancer survival. The impact of this bias is emphasized by the pronounced effect even among women with health insurance (Medicare) and no comorbid conditions. The magnitude of this neighborhood level effect demands an increased focus on upstream determinants of health to support comprehensive patient care. The housing sector actively reveals structural racism and economic disinvestment and is an actionable policy target to mitigate adverse upstream health determinants for the benefit of patients with cancer.

Prior DCIS and overall mortality in women with stage I breast cancer.

e12593 Background: Whether a prior diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) impacts women later diagnosed with invasive breast cancer is unclear. If localized breast cancer following DCIS is more aggressive than localized breast cancer alone, this could inform therapy decisions. To our knowledge, no study has examined the impact of prior DCIS on overall mortality in women with stage I invasive breast cancer. The study objective was to determine if overall mortality for women with stage I breast cancer with prior DCIS is different from those with stage I disease without prior DCIS. Our hypothesis was that women with prior DCIS would have higher mortality compared to those without prior DCIS. Methods: 302,484 patients with stage I cancer diagnosed from 1998 to 2016 were ascertained from SEER. Of these, 5,011 (1.7%) had prior DCIS. Patients with DCIS were matched 1:2 to women with no prior DCIS based on age, year of diagnosis, race/ethnicity, marital status, and invasive breast cancer characteristics including histology, tumor grade, tumor size, T stage, N stage, ER/PR status, surgery type, radiation, and chemotherapy status. The primary study outcome was overall mortality. Cox proportional hazards models were used to compute hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Cases and controls had similar demographics. Compared to women with stage I breast cancer without prior DCIS, overall mortality was statistically significantly lower in women with stage I breast cancer with prior DCIS (hazard ratio [HR] 0.89 95% confidence interval [CI]0.80-0.98). Other factors associated with overall mortality were bilateral mastectomy (adjusted HR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.49-0.78), radiation therapy (adjusted HR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.56-0.75) and chemotherapy (adjusted HR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.72-0.99). Factors associated with higher overall mortality included age (trend p < 0.001), tumor grade (trend p = 0.003), and negative PR receptor status (adjusted HR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.13-1.45). Breast cancer specific mortality, however, was statistically significantly higher in women with prior DCIS to their breast cancer diagnosis compared to women without prior DCIS to their breast cancer diagnosis (HR 1.24 95% CI 1.01-1.52). Conclusions: Contrary to our hypothesis, women with prior DCIS and subsequent stage I breast cancer have lower overall mortality compared to matched controls with stage I breast cancer without prior DCIS. In contrast, those with prior DCIS have higher breast cancer specific mortality than those without prior DCIS. Reasons for this discrepancy are unknown, but since DCIS is most commonly diagnosed on mammogram, differences may be related to sociodemographic characteristics that are associated with both higher screening adherence and higher overall survival, such as higher income, higher education achievement , and higher access to health care.

Association Between Antihypertensive Medication Use and Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The prevalence rate of hypertension and breast cancer increases with advancing age. Renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASIs), β-blockers (BBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs), and diuretics are widely used to treat patients with hypertension. Although, the association between the use of antihypertensive medication and breast cancer has been highly debated, recent evidence supporting this association remains controversial.Objective: To evaluate the association between the use of antihypertensive medication and the risk of breast cancer and its prognosis.Methods: This study was conducted using data from the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases retrieved for the period from January 2000 to April 2021. Articles and their references were checked and summary effects were calculated using random- and fixed-effects models. Heterogeneity test and sensitivity analysis were also performed.Results: This meta-analysis included 57 articles, which were all related to breast cancer risk or prognosis. Assessment of breast cancer risk using the pooled data showed that the use of BBs or CCBs or diuretics was associated with increased cancer risk [BB: relative risk (RR) = 1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09–1.32; CCBs: RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.03–1.08; diuretics: RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.01–1.11]. Long-term use of diuretic increased the risk of breast cancer (RR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.01–1.20), whereas long-term RASIs treatment reduced the risk (RR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.68–0.91). In addition, we found that diuretic users may be related to elevated breast cancer-specific mortality [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.18, 95% CI 1.04–1.33], whereas using other antihypertensive medications was not associated with this prognosis in patients with breast cancer.Conclusion: Using CCBs, BBs, and diuretics increased the risk of breast cancer. In addition, diuretics may elevate the risk of breast cancer-specific mortality. The long-term use of RASIs was associated with a significantly lower breast cancer risk, compared with non-users. Thus, this analysis provides evidence to support the benefits of the routine use of RASIs in patients with hypertension, which has important public health implications.

Increased risk of breast cancer-specific mortality among cancer survivors who developed breast cancer as a second malignancy

Background Cancer survivors who develop breast cancer as a second malignancy (BCa-2) are common. Yet, little is known about the prognosis of BCa-2 compared to first primary breast cancer (BCa-1). Methods Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, we conducted a population-based cohort study including 883,881 patients with BCa-1 and 36,313 patients with BCa-2 during 1990–2015. Compared with patients with BCa-1, we calculated hazard ratios (HRs) of breast cancer-specific mortality among patients with BCa-2, using multivariable Cox regression. Results During the follow-up (median 5.5 years), 114,964 and 3829 breast cancer-specific deaths were identified among BCa-1 and BCa-2 patients, respectively. Patients with BCa-2 had more favorable tumor characteristics and received less intensive treatment e.g., surgery and chemo−/radio-therapy, compared to patients with BCa-1. When adjusting for demographic factors, patients with BCa-2 were at similar risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.97–1.03) compared to patients with BCa-1. However, when additionally controlling for tumor characteristics and treatment modes, BCa-2 patients were at an increased risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.08–1.15). The risk elevation was particularly greater when the first malignancy was lung, bladder, ovarian or blood malignancy (HRs 1.16–1.85), or when the first malignancy was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy (HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.28–1.63). Conclusions Overall, patients with BCa-2 have worse breast cancer-specific survival, compared with their BCa-1 counterparts, although the risk elevation is mild. High-risk subgroups based on first malignancy’s characteristics may be considered for active clinical management.

Associated Factors and Survival Outcomes for Breast Conserving Surgery versus Mastectomy among New Zealand Women with Early-Stage Breast Cancer

This study aimed to investigate type of loco-regional treatment received, associated treatment factors and mortality outcomes in New Zealand women with early-stage breast cancer who were eligible for breast conserving surgery (BCS). This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the Auckland and Waikato Breast Cancer Registers and involves 6972 women who were diagnosed with early-stage primary breast cancer (I-IIIa) between 1 January 2000 and 31 July 2015, were eligible for BCS and had received one of four loco-regional treatments: breast conserving surgery (BCS), BCS followed by radiotherapy (BCS + RT), mastectomy (MTX) or MTX followed by radiotherapy (MTX + RT), as their primary cancer treatment. About 66.1% of women received BCS + RT, 8.4% received BCS only, 21.6% received MTX alone and 3.9% received MTX + RT. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify demographic and clinical factors associated with the receipt of the BCS + RT (standard treatment). Differences in the uptake of BCS + RT were present across patient demographic and clinical factors. BCS + RT was less likely amongst patients who were older (75+ years old), were of Asian ethnicity, resided in impoverished areas or areas within the Auckland region and were treated in a public healthcare facility. Additionally, BCS + RT was less likely among patients diagnosed symptomatically, diagnosed during 2000–2004, had an unknown tumour grade, negative/unknown oestrogen and progesterone receptor status or tumour sizes ≥ 20 mm, ≤50 mm and had nodal involvement. Competing risk regression analysis was undertaken to estimate the breast cancer-specific mortality associated with each of the four loco-regional treatments received. Over a median follow-up of 8.8 years, women who received MTX alone had a higher risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05–1.82) compared to women who received BCS + RT. MTX + RT and BCS alone did not have any statistically different risk of mortality when compared to BCS + RT. Further inquiry is needed as to any advantages BCS + RT may have over MTX alternatives.