Abstract 3634: Short-term outcomes of breast cancer surgery by race-ethnicity in the Military Health System

Abstract Background: Racial-ethnic differences in receiving breast cancer treatment in the U.S. are well documented and have been partly attributed to access to care. However, little is known about possible disparities in short-term outcomes following breast cancer surgery. This study aimed to compare racial-ethnic groups in experience of post-operative outcomes following breast cancer surgery in the equal access U.S Military Health System. Methods: We identified a cohort of women aged 18 and older diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer between 2001 and 2014 who received mastectomy without reconstruction for their cancer in the MilCanEpi database. Information on 30-day complications, reoperation, and inpatient admission were captured. Multivariable logistic regression estimated the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in association with race-ethnicity for the outcomes. Results: Among 886 Asian or Pacific Islander (API), 1,246 non-Hispanic Black (NHB), 497 Hispanic, and 4,898 non-Hispanic White (NHW) women receiving mastectomy for stage I-III breast cancer, the odds of 30-day complications were lower for API (AOR=0.63, 95% CI=0.47, 0.86) and similar for NHB (AOR=0.79, 95% CI=0.62, 1.02) and Hispanic (AOR=0.97, 95% CI=0.70, 1.34) compared to NHW women. The likelihood of reoperation was similar between the racial-ethnic groups. Hispanic women had higher odds of 30-day inpatient admission (AOR=1.55, 95% CI=1.10, 2.17) and the likelihood was statistically similar for API and NHB compared to NHW women. Conclusions: In the equal access Military Health System, API women were less likely and NHB and Hispanic women as likely as NHW women to experience 30-day complications following primary surgical treatment without reconstruction for non-metastatic breast cancer. This highlights the importance of access to care in providing quality surgical care regardless of a patients’ racial or ethnic background. The reason for higher likelihood of 30-day inpatient admission despite similar likelihood of complications among Hispanic women warrants further research. Citation Format: Yvonne Eaglehouse, Sarah Darmon, Matthew Nealeigh, Tracey Koehlmoos, Craig D. Shriver, Kangmin Zhu. Short-term outcomes of breast cancer surgery by race-ethnicity in the Military Health System [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 3634.