OBJECTIVE:

To assess breast cancer mortality rates among American Indian/Alaska Native women compared with non-Hispanic White women in the five years after diagnosis.

METHODS:

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data from 1973-1996 were used to compare survival in the two races, controlling for age, marital status, stage, and therapy.

RESULTS:

The adjusted relative hazard of death was 58% higher for American Indian/Alaska Native women than for non-Hispanic White women (HR = 1.58, 95% Cl 1.26-2.00). The survival disparity persisted even when limited to women who received definitive therapy, i.e. mastectomy with axillary node dissection or breast-conserving surgery with axillary node dissection and radiation treatment (HR = 1.88, 95% Cl 1.40-2.52).

CONCLUSIONS:

American Indian/Alaska Native women were at greater risk for breast cancer mortality than non-Hispanic White women, even when restricted to women who received definitive breast cancer therapy.