Adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer: importance in women with low income

J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015 May;24(5):403-8. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2014.4982. Epub 2015 Apr 17.

Abstract

There are wide disparities in breast cancer-specific survival by patient sociodemographic characteristics. Women of lower income, for instance, have higher relapse and death rates from breast cancer. One possible contributing factor for this disparity is low use of adjuvant endocrine therapy-an extremely efficacious therapy in women with early stage, hormone receptor positive breast cancer, the most common subtype of breast cancer. Alone, adjuvant endocrine therapy decreases breast cancer recurrence by 50% and death by 30%. Data suggest that low use of adjuvant endocrine therapy is a potentially important and modifiable risk factor for poor outcome in low-income breast cancer patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / therapeutic use*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / mortality
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Medication Adherence*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / mortality
  • Poverty
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Tamoxifen / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal
  • Tamoxifen