Abstract P2-08-27: Clinicopathologic characteristics of native vs. foreign-born breast cancer patients in a contemporary cohort
Authors: Chun Jennifer , Kaplowitz Elianna , Gibbon Grace , Goodgal Jenny , Guth Amber , Axelrod Deborah , Roses Daniel , Shapiro Richard , Schnabel Freya 
Published: March 2020

Introduction: Previous studies have found clinicopathologic differences in foreign-born women diagnosed with breast cancer compared to those who are native to the United States. A few studies have documented that the foreign-born women with breast cancer have limited information regarding their family history due to decreased contact with their relatives. The purpose of our study was to look at a contemporary cohort of women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer and compare the clinical and tumor characteristics among the women who are foreign-born compared to those who are born in US in our institution.

Methods: The Institutional Breast Cancer Database includes patients diagnosed with breast cancer between 2010-2018. Variables of interest included nativity and clinical and tumor characteristics. Statistical analyses included age and race adjusted logistic regression at the α=0.05 level.

Results: Out of 3,199 BC patients, 984 (30.8%) were foreign-born and 2215 (69.2%) were native-born. We found that the foreign-born patients immigrated to the US mainly from Europe (35.7%), Asia (32.8%), and Central/South America (26.1%). Compared to the native-born patients, there was a significantly higher proportion of foreign-born patients with minority race (p&lt;0.001), lower education (p&lt;0.001), and lower income (&lt;0.001). Foreign-born patients were less likely to have a personal history of BC (OR=0.70, 95% 0.52-0.95, p=0.020), personal history of other cancer (OR=0.68, 95% CI 0.52-0.88, p=0.003), family history of BC (FHBC) with a first-degree relative (OR=0.66, 95% CI 0.55-0.80, p&lt;0.001) or have undergone genetic testing (OR=0.52, 95% 0.43-0.64, p&lt;0.001). Upon further investigation of the personal history of other cancers, we found that the native-born patients were significantly more likely to have a previous history of skin cancer (OR=2.93, 95% CI 1.76-4.87, p&lt;0.001). Foreign-born patients were more likely to have HER2 enriched molecular subtype (OR=1.69, 95% CI 1.09-2.61, p=0.049). Among those with hormone sensitive cancers, the foreign-born patients were more likely to have a lower Oncotype Dx Recurrence Score &lt;18 (OR=1.67, 95% CI 1.15-2.42, p=0.021). Age at diagnosis, BRCA1/2 status, palpability, tumor stage, histology, tumor size, Ki-67, and recurrence were not significantly different between the foreign and native-born cohorts.

Conclusions: In a contemporary cohort of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, we found that our foreign-born patients appeared to have adequate information regarding their family history of breast cancer. This may be a result of enhanced digital and global communication in the 21st century. There was a significantly higher proportion of native-born patients with a strong FHBC (17.4% vs. 9.7%). We also found a significant proportion of foreign-born patients to have ER/PR-negative and HER2 enriched tumor molecular subtypes (10.6% vs. 6.3%). This observation did not reflect a higher proportion of BRCA mutation carriers, suggesting other possible mechanisms for this finding. Further investigation is warranted in a larger global cohort of foreign-born breast cancer patients from diverse populations, including Africa and the Middle-East.

Citation Format: Jennifer Chun, Elianna Kaplowitz, Grace Gibbon, Jenny Goodgal, Amber Guth, Deborah Axelrod, Daniel Roses, Richard Shapiro, Freya Schnabel. Clinicopathologic characteristics of native vs. foreign-born breast cancer patients in a contemporary cohort [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-08-27.