Abstract PO-117: Differences in personal social networks among black and white women diagnosed with breast cancer, with and without delays in initiation of chemotherapy
Authors: Kroenke Candyce , Aoki Rhonda , Altschuler Andrea , Adams Alyce , Kennedy David 
Published: January 2022

Background: Black women are less likely to be married and report greater support from extended relatives than White women in the general population. However, little information exists about women's personal networks and how differences may influence treatment management after a diagnosis of breast cancer. Methods: We included women from two studies—study 1: 191 Black and White women from the INSIGHT-BC study who were diagnosed with stages I-IV invasive breast cancer from 2017-2021; and study 2: 24 Black and White women diagnosed with stages I-III invasive breast cancer from 2017-2020 who received adjuvant chemotherapy and were recruited based on whether they had no or any (&gt;45 days) delay in initiation of treatment. In each study, women responded to questions on personal networks in an online EgoWeb 2.0 survey on average 3.7 (study 1) and 7.8 (study 2) months after diagnosis. Specifically, women were asked to name 15 network members and answered questions about the characteristics of each of these people and the relationships among them. We used analysis of covariance to evaluate age-adjusted differences in the composition of women's personal social networks by race, or race and delays. Results: Mean age was 59.9 (median=61.0) years in the larger and 57.8 (median=58.5) years in the smaller group. In study 1 (N=191), white women reported a larger proportion of persons over age 55 (56.0% vs. 46.4%, p=0.01), with a college education or more (60.1% vs. 48.0%, p=0.04), who were rated as having a very healthy lifestyle (52.6 vs. 38.8%, p=0.03), with whom they had contact 2 times or less in the 30 days (35.6% vs. 19.2%, p=0.003), and of the same race as the respondent (89.7% vs. 73.2%, p&lt;0.001) in their personal social networks. Black women reported a higher proportion of network contacts with whom they had contact &gt;2 times per week in the last 30 days (57.9 vs. 41.6%, p=0.005) and who provided types of support other than those delineated in the Medical Outcomes Study model (62.4% vs. 45.6%, p=0.03). In study 2 (N=24), irrespective of chemotherapy delays, black women reported higher proportions of relatives (+33.6%, 95% CI: 17.0%, 50.2%) and lower proportions of friends in their network (-29.9%, 95% CI: -46.0%, -13.9%), and higher network density (0.27, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.41). However, Black women with chemotherapy delays reported a higher proportion of people in their social network with whom they did not feel close compared to White women without delays (10.6%, 95% CI: 0.6%, 20.5%) and compared to all other groups (+11.0%, 95% CI: 3.1%, 18.8%). Black women with chemotherapy delays also reported a lower proportion of females (-15.1% 95% CI: -28.4%, -1.7%) in their network compared with non-delayed White women. Conclusions: Differences in social networks were consistent with prior findings but pointed to characteristics that may signify challenges with obtaining support in women's personal networks during breast cancer treatment such as lower proportions of close relationships and female network ties, that may lead to treatment delays.

Citation Format: Candyce Kroenke, Rhonda Aoki, Andrea Altschuler, Alyce Adams, David Kennedy. Differences in personal social networks among black and white women diagnosed with breast cancer, with and without delays in initiation of chemotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2021 Oct 6-8. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-117.