Disparities in timely surgery among Asian American women with breast cancer

• Published in: The American journal of surgery 2025-02, Vol.240, p.115928, Article 115928
• Main Authors: Chen, Yuan-Hsin, Chen, Ya-Wen, Chang, David C., Oseni, Tawakalitu O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Asian - statistics & numerical data; Asian Americans; Asian people; Biopsy; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - ethnology; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Breast Neoplasms - surgery; Cancer therapies; Chemotherapy; Demographics; Disaggregated Asian American subgroups; Educational attainment; Family income; Female; Females; Geography; Health care access; Healthcare Disparities - ethnology; Healthcare Disparities - statistics & numerical data; Hospitals; Humans; Independent variables; Lumpectomy; Mastectomy; Mastectomy - statistics & numerical data; Medical diagnosis; Middle Aged; Minority & ethnic groups; Neoplasm Staging; Patients; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic status; Subgroups; Surgery; Surgical disparity; Time-to-Treatment - statistics & numerical data; Timely surgery; United States; Variables; White; White People - statistics & numerical data; Womens health
• ISSN: 0002-9610; 1879-1883; 1879-1883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.115928

We investigated the likelihood of timely surgery for breast cancer patients among diverse Asian subgroups. We analyzed the National Cancer Database from 2010 to 2019 and included White and Asian women diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer. Patients with multiple cancers, patients who received chemotherapy, and those diagnosed and treated at different hospitals were excluded. The primary outcome was timely surgery within 8 weeks of diagnosis. Race was the primary independent variable. Asian Americans were stratified by geography. A total of 716,701 women were analyzed, with 3.5% Asians. Delayed surgery was experienced by 13.2% of women. Adjusted analysis indicated no difference in receiving timely surgery between all Asians and Whites. However, Southeast Asians were less likely to undergo timely surgery compared to Whites (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.67–0.84). Variations among Asian ethnicities emphasize the need to explore treatment patterns to address disparities in breast cancer care. •Timely breast cancer surgery rates vary among Asian American subgroups.•Southeast Asians were less likely to receive timely surgery compared to Whites.•No difference in receiving timely surgery for East and South Asians than for Whites.•Disaggregating Asian Americans is crucial to ensuring health equity.