Racial and Ethnic Variation in Survival in Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer.

Importance: Rates of early-onset (before 50 years of age) colorectal cancer (EOCRC) are increasing, with notable differences across racial and ethnic groups. Limited data are available on EOCRC-related mortality differences when disaggregating racial and ethnic groups.

Objective: To investigate racial and ethnic differences in EOCRC mortality, including disaggregation of Asian American populations separately, including Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander populations and specific Asian American groups, and to quantify the contribution of clinical and sociodemographic factors accounting for these differences.

Disparities in cancer stage shifts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in California, 2020-2021.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated shutdowns disrupted healthcare access and resulted in decreased cancer screenings. Cancer diagnosis delays have concerning downstream effects on late-stage cancer, especially for marginalized populations.

Methods: The study population included 349,458 adults in the California Cancer Registry diagnosed with cancer between January 2019-December 2021, during which California experienced two stay-at-home orders.

Acculturating to multiculturalism: a new dimension of dietary acculturation among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA.

Background: Dietary acculturation is the process by which diet and dietary practises from the environment of origin are retained or changed and/or those prevalent in a new environment are adopted. Despite rapid population growth the U.S.

A validation study for measuring Asian- and Hispanic-serving sociocultural institutions in neighborhoods using business listing data and potential implications for health.

Ethnic enclaves influence the health of Asian American and Hispanic or Latinx/a/o populations, likely via neighborhood social, economic, and built environments. To facilitate studies aiming to disentangle these specific neighborhood mechanisms, we describe the creation and validation of two novel measures-Asian-serving and Hispanic-serving sociocultural institutions (SCIs)-to estimate the social, cultural, and economic character of ethnic enclaves in California. Business listing data were used to identify SCIs or businesses that promote cultural and social identity, including arts, civic, historical, religious, social service, and membership organizations.

Asian American Enclaves and Healthcare Accessibility: An Ecologic Study Across Five States.

Introduction: Access to primary care has been a long-standing priority for improving population health. Asian Americans, who often settle in ethnic enclaves, have been found to underutilize health care. Understanding geographic primary care accessibility within Asian American enclaves can help to ensure the long-term health of this fast-growing population.

Neighborhood-level COVID vaccination and booster disparities: A population-level analysis across California.

Objectives: To describe vaccine and booster uptake by neighborhood-level factors in California.

Methods: We examined trends in COVID-19 vaccination up to September 21, 2021, and boosters up to March 29, 2022 using data from the California Department of Public Health. Quasi-Poisson regression was used to model the association between neighborhood-level factors and fully vaccinated and boosted among ZIP codes.

Neighborhood socioeconomic status and the effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening outreach with mailed fecal immunochemical tests within a safety net healthcare system in San Francisco, CA: A subgroup analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Neighborhood context shapes opportunities and barriers for residents to access healthcare and cancer screening. Neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) is associated with disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, but the extent to which the effectiveness of specific screening interventions vary by nSES has not been studied. The original trial conducted in San Francisco, CA from 2016 to 2017 randomly assigned patients eligible for CRC screening either to a multicomponent intervention including advanced notification, mailed fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits and reminders or to a control group receiving usual care.

Neighborhood Factors Associated with COVID-19 Cases in California.

Background: There is a need to assess neighborhood-level factors driving COVID-19 disparities across racial and ethnic groups.

Objective: To use census tract-level data to investigate neighborhood-level factors contributing to racial and ethnic group-specific COVID-19 case rates in California.

Design: Quasi-Poisson generalized linear models were used to identify neighborhood-level factors associated with COVID-19 cases.

Improved survival in cervical cancer patients receiving care at National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.

Background: Locally advanced cervical cancer (CC) remains lethal in the United States. We investigate the effect of receiving care at an National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center (NCICC) on survival.

Methods: Data for women diagnosed with CC from 2004 to 2016 who received radiation treatment were extracted from the California Cancer Registry (n = 4250).

Health care utilization among women of reproductive age living in public housing: Associations across six public housing sites in San Francisco.

Housing is a key social determinant of health and health care utilization. Although stigmatized due to poor quality, public housing may provide stability and affordability needed for individuals to engage in health care utilization behaviors. For low-income women of reproductive age (15-44 y), this has implications for long-term reproductive health trajectories.

Home mortgage discrimination and incidence of triple-negative and Luminal A breast cancer among non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White females in California, 2006-2015.

Purpose: In the United States, Black females are burdened by more aggressive subtypes and increased mortality from breast cancer compared to non-Hispanic (NH) White females. Institutional racism may contribute to these inequities. We aimed to characterize the association between home mortgage discrimination, a novel measure of institutional racism, and incidence of Luminal A and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes among NH Black and NH White females in California metropolitan areas.

Evaluating the Impact of Social and Built Environments on Health-Related Quality of Life among Cancer Survivors.

Background: With almost 17 million U.S. cancer survivors, understanding multilevel factors impacting health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is critical to improving survivorship outcomes.

Individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status and risk of aggressive breast cancer subtypes in a pooled cohort of women from Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Background: Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with a higher risk of aggressive breast cancer (BC) subtypes, but few studies have examined the independent effects of both neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (nSES) and individual-level SES measures.

Methods: This study included 5547 women from the Pathways and Life After Cancer Epidemiology cohorts who were diagnosed with invasive BC. Generalized estimating equation models were used to examine associations of nSES (a composite score based on income, poverty, education, occupation, employment, rent, and house value) and individual-level SES (income and education) with BC subtypes: luminal B (LumB), Her2-enriched (Her2-e), and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) relative to luminal A (LumA).

Incidence of Lung Cancer Among Never-Smoking Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Females.

Background: Although lung cancer incidence rates according to smoking status, sex, and detailed race/ethnicity have not been available, it is estimated that more than half of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) females with lung cancer have never smoked.

Methods: We calculated age-adjusted incidence rates for lung cancer according to smoking status and detailed race/ethnicity among females, focusing on AANHPI ethnic groups, and assessed relative incidence across racial/ethnic groups. We used a large-scale dataset that integrates data from electronic health records from 2 large health-care systems-Sutter Health in Northern California and Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i-linked to state cancer registries for incident lung cancer diagnoses between 2000 and 2013.

Integrating Electronic Health Record, Cancer Registry, and Geospatial Data to Study Lung Cancer in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Ethnic Groups.

Background: A relatively high proportion of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) females with lung cancer have never smoked. We used an integrative data approach to assemble a large-scale cohort to study lung cancer risk among AANHPIs by smoking status with attention to representation of specific AANHPI ethnic groups.

Methods: We leveraged electronic health records (EHRs) from two healthcare systems-Sutter Health in northern California and Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i-that have high representation of AANHPI populations.

Neighborhood Contexts and Breast Cancer Among Asian American Women.

Background: This study examines how neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) and ethnic composition are associated with breast cancer risk for Asian American women.

Methods: We linked individual level data from a population-based case-control study of breast cancer among Asian American women with neighborhood level data in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area (cases: n = 118, controls: n = 390). Multivariable logistic regression models examined the association between nSES, ethnic composition, and odds of having breast cancer.

Integration of electronic pathology reporting with clinical trial matching for advanced prostate cancer.

Introduction: Racial/ethnic diversity in prostate cancer (CaP) clinical trials (CTs) is essential to address CaP disparities. California Cancer Registry mandated electronic reporting (e-path) of structured data elements from pathologists diagnosing cancer thereby creating an opportunity to identify and approach patients rapidly. This study tested the utility of an online CT matching tool (called Trial Library) used in combination with e-path to improve matching of underrepresented CaP patients into CTs at time of diagnosis.

Egocentric social networks, lifestyle behaviors, and body size in the Asian Community Health Initiative (CHI) cohort.

Background: Social networks have been shown to influence lifestyle behaviors in non-Latinx white (NLW) populations. We examined their influence in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) women.

Methods: We included 477 AANHPI women from the Asian Community Health Initiative Study who provided egocentric (degree, density, composition) and epidemiologic (size, types of ties) social network data and data on alcohol intake, physical activity, smoking, diet, and body size.

Changes in Colorectal Cancer 5-Year Survival Disparities in California, 1997-2014.

Background: Colorectal cancer incidence and mortality have declined with increased screening and scientific advances in treatment. However, improvement in colorectal cancer outcomes has not been equal for all groups and disparities have persisted over time.

Methods: Data from the California Cancer Registry were used to estimate changes in 5-year colorectal cancer-specific survival over three diagnostic time periods: 1997-2002, 2003-2008, and 2009-2014.

Nativity, ethnic enclave residence, and breast cancer survival among Latinas: Variations between California and Texas.

Background: Among Latinas with breast cancer, residence in an ethnic enclave may be associated with survival. However, findings from prior studies are inconsistent.

Methods: The authors conducted parallel analyses of California and Texas cancer registry data for adult (aged ≥18 years) Latinas who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 1996 to 2005, with follow-up through 2014.

Age-related differences in breast cancer mortality according to race/ethnicity, insurance, and socioeconomic status.

Background: We assessed breast cancer mortality in older versus younger women according to race/ethnicity, neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), and health insurance status.

Methods: The study included female breast cancer cases 18 years of age and older, diagnosed between 2005 and 2015 in the California Cancer Registry. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to generate hazard ratios (HR) of breast cancer specific deaths and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for older (60+ years) versus younger (< 60 years) patients separately by race/ethnicity, nSES, and health insurance status.

Urinary cadmium and timing of menarche and pubertal development in girls.

Background: Cadmium (Cd) is a developmental toxicant that is released into the environment during industrial processes. Previous animal studies suggest that Cd may impact the onset of puberty.

Objectives: To determine whether Cd exposure, measured as urinary Cd concentration, was associated with ages at menarche and pubertal development.