Black-white patterns in subtype-specific breast cancer incidence rates differ for men and women
TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Black-white patterns in subtype-specific breast cancer incidence rates differ for men and women, with breast cancer rates higher for blacks than whites for all subtypes among men, according to a study published online Dec. 12 in JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
Hyuna Sung, Ph.D., from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, and colleagues used nationwide data from 2010 to 2016 to examine racial differences in the incidence rates of breast cancer subtypes defined by hormone receptor (HR)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) by sex.
The researchers found that among men, compared with whites, blacks had higher rates for all subtypes, with black-to-white incidence rate ratios of 1.41, 1.65, 2.62, and 2.27 for the HR+/HER2−, HR+/HER2+, HR−/HER2+, and triple-negative subtypes, respectively. Among women, the rates in blacks compared with those in whites were 21 percent lower for HR+/HER2− and similar for HR+/HER2+, while for the HR−/HER2+ and triple-negative subtypes, rates were 29 and 93 percent higher, respectively, for blacks.
“Black-white patterns in subtype-specific breast cancer incidence rates differ between men and women, especially for HR+ disease, which may have implications for breast cancer etiology,” the authors write. “Future studies should identify factors contributing to these patterns to further inform prevention strategies.”
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