Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington 06030-6205, USA. gregorio@nso.uchc.edu

Annual counts, proportional distributions, and age-adjusted incidence rates of disease by stage at diagnosis are reported for 27,970 in situ and invasive breast cancers from the Connecticut Tumor Registry, 1986-1995. Odds ratios for the likelihood of late-stage disease by year of diagnosis, age category, race/ethnicity, and the socioeconomic level of community of residence are presented. More breast cancer is diagnosed today at earlier, treatable stages than was previously the case. Nonetheless, young women, non-whites, and residents of low-to-moderate income census tracts were all at increased risk of being diagnosed with late-stage disease than were their respective reference groups. From 1986 through 1990, there was little change in the greater likelihood that non-whites and disadvantaged women would be diagnosed with late-stage disease. For 1990-95, however, the disparity in late-stage diagnosis by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic standing was greatly decreased.

PMID: 10600062 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]