Background: Studies support biological disparities of breast cancer among races/ethnicities. Uygur is a minority ethnic group in China with a genetic admixture of Caucasian and East Asian. The Han ethnic group makes up the majority of the Chinese population. We aim to study and compare the clinical differences and survival rate in these two ethnic groups in order to improve prophylaxis.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of the medical records of 264 Uygur and 287 Han breast cancer patients including demographic data, clinical and pathological parameters, TNM status, Ki-67 and treatment information was collected. The patients were followed up at three month intervals for 2 years then every 6 months for 3 to 4 years postoperatively. Chi-square tests were performed to compare characteristics, and a log-rank test was used for ranked data. Overall survival and disease free survival were analyzed by Kaplan Meier tests.
Results: Uygur was statistically different in terms of: marital status; occupation; body mass index; duration of breast feeding; period of complaint; pathological composition; size of primary tumor; number of metastatic and resected lymph nodes; pathological staging; expression of nm23; chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The 5-year overall survival rate of Uygur breast cancer patients was 89.2% compared to 91.7% in Han (P = 0.129). The disease free survival of Uygur breast cancer patients was 79.3% compared to 84.5% in Han (P = 0.040).
Conclusion: The different characteristics of Uygur breast cancer patients compared to Han breast cancer patients and their lower survival rates indicate that management strategies should be implemented to improve patient outcome.
Keywords: Breast neoplasms; China; ethnic groups; population characteristics; survival.