A comparative analysis of breast cancer stage between women enrolled in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program and women not participating in the program.

PURPOSE

To determine the proportional distribution of early- and late-stage breast cancers diagnosed in years 2004-2009 among women enrolled in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) and to compare this distribution to that of geographically comparable non-enrolled women diagnosed with breast cancer.

METHODS

Using data from the National Program of Cancer Registries, we compared the demographic characteristics and cancer stage distribution of women enrollees and non-enrollees by use of conditional logistic regression using the odds ratio as a measure of association.

RESULTS

NBCCEDP enrollees were slightly younger and more likely to identify as African-American, API and AIAN than were non-enrollees. The proportion of late-stage breast cancer (regional and distant) decreased slightly over the study period. NBCCEDP enrollees generally were diagnosed at a later stage of breast cancer than were those not enrolled in the NBCCEDP.

CONCLUSIONS

The NBCCEDP has been effective in achieving its goal of enrolling racial and ethnic populations; however, enrollees had a poorer stage distribution of breast cancer than did non-enrollees underscoring the need to expand breast cancer control efforts among low-income, underserved populations.