Unveiling the disparities within: Why we need to disaggregate data for Asian women with breast cancer (February 2025)

Summary

This large retrospective study used data from the US National Cancer Database to look at factors associated with timely surgical care among Asian and White women with breast cancer and highlight the importance of evaluating disaggregated ethnic and racial data. Their findings showed that there was no difference between Asians and Whites with respect to receiving surgery within eight weeks. However, disaggregating Asian populations identified disparities among Southeast Asian women, with only 78% having timely surgery, relative to East Asian women (83%) and South Asian women (84%). Compared to East Asian women and South Asian women, Southeast Asian women had statistically significantly higher rates of comorbidities and advanced cancer stages as well as socioeconomic barriers, including lower education levels and income levels. They were also less likely to be treated at high volume or academic hospitals and were less likely to receive breast conserving therapy. Southeast Asian women were the only Asian subgroup significantly less likely than White women to receive timely surgery.