津贴帮助或可更好地帮助个体利用激素疗法治疗乳腺癌

  近日，在出席波士顿临床肿瘤护理质量研讨会上，来自伊利诺伊大学的研究者Alana Biggers表示，实际现金支出是乳腺癌女性患者进行激素疗法的主要屏障，降低激素疗法的成本或许可以真正有效改善乳腺癌患者，尤其是低收入的乳腺癌患者的机体健康状况。
  乳腺癌是引发癌症相关女性死亡的主要原因，但是乳腺癌的生存比率却因个人的种族及社会经济地位而异，非洲裔美国女性及收入较低的女性患者个体往往死亡率较高。通常在个体进行乳腺组织移除后，激素疗法比如采用他莫昔芬或芳香酶抑制剂需要长期进行长达5年，才可以明显降低个体乳腺癌复发的风险，而术后激素疗法体制的不健全往往会降低很多患者的生存率。
  研究者对23299名女性个体进行研究，其中所有患者都在65岁及以上，86%为白人患者，7%为非洲裔美国个体，4%为西班牙人，而其余的2%则为种族背景的个体，所有的个体在2006年至2007年间均进行了乳房切除术或病灶切除术。研究者表示，在招募的患者中有27%的个体都处于低收入补贴状态，相比白人女性而言，非洲裔美国个体和西班牙个体进行激素疗法治疗乳腺癌的比率较低。
  在研究中研究人员表示，所有招募的个体中仅有62%的个体持续进行了三年的激素疗法，由于个体补贴项目的完善，在研究过程中非洲裔美国女性和西班牙女性个体进行持续激素疗法治疗的比率也大大提高，分别达到了62%和64%，而白人女性个体为58%。研究数据显示，招募进入额外援助程序的乳腺癌女性患者每年进行激素疗法的比率都非常类似，然而不在援助程序中的个体进行激素疗法的比率却逐年下降。
  最后研究者Biggers表示，尽管我们目前还不能研究额外帮助程序对乳腺癌患者生存率的效应，但是通过额外的补助帮助可以明显提高患者进行激素疗法的比率，为有效改善女性健康，尤其是低收入女性个体的机体健康将会带来巨大帮助。（转化医学网360zhyx.com）

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A federal prescription-subsidy programfor low-income women on Medicare significantly improved their adherence to hormone therapy to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer after surgery.
"Our findings suggest that out-of-pocket costs are a significant barrier" to women complying with hormone therapy, said Dr. Alana Biggers, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, and lead investigator on the study. Programs that lower these costs can "improve adherence -- and, hopefully, breast cancer outcomes -- for low-income women," she said.
Biggers presented the results of the study at an Oct. 14 press conference in advance of the American Society for Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium in Boston.
Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths for women of all races, but survival rates differ by race and socioeconomic status, with African American women and women of low income having higher rates of death.
Hormone therapy, such as tamoxifen or drugs called aromatase inhibitors, is usually taken for five years following mastectomy or surgery to remove breast tumors and can significantly reduce the risk that that cancer will return. Poor adherence to post-surgical hormone therapy regimens is associated with diminished chance of survival.
Biggers and her colleagues looked at data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on adherence to hormone therapy for three years after breast cancer surgery. The 23,299 women, all 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare, were 86 percent white, 7 percent African American, 4 percent Hispanic, and 2 percent other racial backgrounds. All had had either a mastectomy or lumpectomy in 2006 or 2007.