Mammography screening and differences in stage of disease by race/ethnicity.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the effect of routine screening on breast cancer staging by race/ethnicity.


METHODS
We used a 1990 to 1998 mammography database (N = 5182) of metropolitan Denver, Colo, women to examine each racial/ethnic cohort's incident cancer cases (n = 1902) and tumor stage distribution given similar patterns of routine screening use.


RESULTS
Regardless of race/ethnicity, women participating in routine screenings had earlier-stage disease by 5 to 13 percentage points. After control for possible confounding factors, White women were more likely to have early-stage disease compared with Black and Hispanic women.


CONCLUSIONS
Lack of screening coverage in certain racial/ethnic populations has often been cited as a reason for tumor stage differences at detection. In this study, correcting for screening did not completely reduce stage differentials among Black and Hispanic women.
Jacobellis
Jillian
J
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, 80246-1530, USA.jillian.jacobellis@state.co.us
Cutter
Gary
G
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000145:classification / Q000639:trends; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D044469:Racial Groups; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016387:Women's Health