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September 19, 2003|Volume 32, Number 3



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Study finds no racial differences in survival rates after treatment for breast cancer

African-American patients with breast cancer who are treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy have similar survival rates to that of white patients, despite the earlier age of onset and larger tumor size, according to a Yale study.

The principal investigator, Dr. Bruce Haffty, professor of therapeutic radiology at the School of Medicine, says the study was prompted by the fact that although the incidence of breast cancer is about 13% lower for African-American women than for white women, the mortality rate from breast cancer is higher for all stages of the disease in African-American women.

His study, published last week in the July/August issue of the Cancer Journal of Scientific American, rules out standard treatment as the reason for the difference in the mortality rate.

“Despite a younger age of onset and larger tumor size, the outcome in African-American patients with breast cancer who are treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy is similar to white patients in terms of overall survival,” Haffty says.

Although the survival rate following a lumpectomy and radiation therapy is similar, the researchers found that African-American women have a slightly higher local relapse rate and poorer cosmetic results. Both of these issues require further investigation, Haffty says.

The study included 1,614 white patients and 101 African-American patients who were diagnosed with primary breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy and radiation therapy at Yale-New Haven Hospital between 1973 and 1997.

There was no difference in overall 10-year survival between the African-American and white patients. However, at 10 years, the relapse-free rate was 81% for the African-American women and 87% for the white women.

The co-author of the study is Nimi Tuamokumo, a recent graduate of the School of Medicine. The study was supported in part with funding from the Robert Leet and Clara Guthrie Patterson Trust and the Ethel F. Donaghue Women’s Health Investigator Program at Yale.

-- By Jacqueline Weaver


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale women engineers named among world's 100 Top Young Innovators

Bulldogs open season with special events

Popular International Studies major strengthened

A cappella group Shades' music proved to be fit for a king

Dr. John Krystal is appointed as the McNeil Jr. Professor

Mark Gerstein is named the Williams Associate Professor

In Focus: Women's Health Research at Yale

Leading biologists will share research . . .

Weekend festival will showcase films from around the world

Event will explore the impact of colonization on women

SCIENCE & MEDICAL NEWS

Remembering 9/11

Memorial Services

Books in Brief

United Way's Virtual Volunteer Center links agencies and individuals

Campus Notes


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