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少数民族女性，尤其是非洲裔美国人、西班牙白人和美洲印第安人，往往容易被诊断为恶性乳腺癌，而这些患者不太可能接受推荐的方案进行治疗，因此其更容易因乳腺癌而死亡；此前研究中研究人员阐明了不同阶段疾病及患者死亡率之间的不一致性，但并没有对疾病的亚型进行分析对比。
刊登在国际杂志Cancer Epidemiology，Biomarkers & Prevention的一项研究论文中，来自西雅图Fred Hutchinson 癌症研究中心的科学家就对此进行了研究，他们收集了18个来自美国国家癌症研究所中监测，流行病学和最终结果（SEER）程序的基于人口的癌症登记处提供的数据，这些数据包括了102，064名女性的：人口学特征、阶段、肿瘤级别、尺寸、原始疗法、健康保险情况、肿瘤亚型、激素受体状态、人表皮生长因子受体2-neu的状态。
研究者发现，相比非洲裔美国女性而言，非西班牙裔的白人女性更易于患较小尺寸的肿瘤，而且更易于患较低侵袭性的HR+/HER2-类型的乳腺癌，而非洲裔美国女性更易于患较大尺寸的肿瘤以及恶性的三阴性乳腺癌。与此同时研究者还发现，在所有的乳腺癌类型中，对于一些种族和族裔群体而言，较晚的诊断和不接受标准疗法进行治疗之间存在一种固定的模式。
近些年来，增加乳腺癌分子和遗传特性的信息可以明显帮助改善治疗疾病的疗法，当前乳腺癌的治疗方法依赖于乳腺癌的不同类型，即取决于雌激素受体、孕酮受体和HER2的状态，这就是为何研究者认为考虑不同乳腺癌亚型的不一致性对于研究的重要性了。
研究者Chen说道，一旦给定种族和民族的差异性，和乳腺癌相关的适合的靶向干预措施就会有效地帮助减少不同癌症亚型之间的差异并且增加患者的生存率。最后研究者表示，本文研究对于后期我们收集更多的研究数据，并且基于相关的研究数据开发更多治疗乳腺癌的新型疗法提供希望。
doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0293
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Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment by Hormone Receptor and HER2 Status
Lu Chen1,2,* and Christopher I. Li1,2
Background: African American and Hispanic women are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive forms of breast cancer. Disparities within each subtype of breast cancer have not been well documented. Methods: Using data from 18 SEER cancer registries, we identified 102,064 women aged 20 years or older, diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2010–2011, and with known stage, hormone receptor (HR), and HER2 status. Associations between race/ethnicity and cancer stage and receipt of guideline-concordant treatment were evaluated according to HR/HER2 status. Results: Overall, African American and Hispanic women were 30% to 60% more likely to be diagnosed with stage II–IV breast cancer compared with non-Hispanic whites. African American women had 40% to 70% higher risks of stage IV breast cancer across all four subtypes. American Indian/Alaska Native women had a 3.9-fold higher risk of stage IV triple-negative breast cancer. African American and Hispanic whites were 30% to 40% more likely to receive non–guideline-concordant treatment for breast cancer overall and across subtypes. Conclusions: Women in several racial/ethnic groups are more likely to be diagnosed with more advanced stage breast cancer. African American and American Indian/Alaska Native women in particular had the highest risk of being diagnosed with stage IV triple-negative breast cancer. African American and Hispanic women were also consistently at higher risk of not receiving guideline-concordant treatment across subtypes. Impact: These findings provide important characterization of which subtypes of breast cancer racial/ethnic disparities in stage and treatment persist.