Breast Conserving Surgery Versus Mastectomy in Hispanic (latina) Women with Breast Cancer in the Mexican-Border City of El Paso, Tx

e12064 Background: Socioeconomic and ethnic disparities still exist that preclude patients from receiving breast-conserving therapy. We sought to determine the rate of mastectomy versus breast-conserving surgery (BCS) in Hispanic population at our institution and assess factors that might affect possible disparity in surgical options. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive cases of Hispanic patients diagnosed with Stages I or II breast cancer between 1/1/2005 and 12/31/2012 in our NAPBC - accredited breast center and determined demographic and clinical characteristics and types of medical insurance and year of diagnosis. We assessed the rates of mastectomy and BCS / lumpectomy determined by treatment code. Data were described using mean, standard deviation (SD), frequency, and proportion. Unpaired and Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare the clinical and demographic characteristics between the two types of surgery. A multiple logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with lumpectomy as compared with mastectomy. P-values less than 5% were considered as significant results. Results: N = 204 patients. Mean age 60. Insurance information was available for 194 patients: Medicare (18%); Medicaid (8%); Private insurance/3rd part payer (26%) and uninsured receiving the county hospital discount (48%). Most of the patients received BCS. No significant difference was seen based on age, body mass index, stage, Estrogen/Progesterone receptors, Her2 status, or type of insurance. However, we noticed a significant trend toward more mastectomies and less BCS betwen 2005 and 2012 .Conclusions: The recently increasingrates of mastectomies, although consistent with nationwide trends, are particularly concerning in our low-resource patient population. The majority (56%) of whom are underinsured with no ccess to reconstructive surgeries resulting in poorer quality of life. Continuing to raising awareness for early detection and continuing to provide access to BCS and radiation is important for underinsured patients to maintain their quality of life and decrease ethnic disparities in the treatment of breast cancer.