Challenges in the delivery of quality breast cancer care: initiation of adjuvant hormone therapy at an urban safety net hospital.

Purpose: Breast cancer treatment disparities in racial/ethnic minority and low-income populations are well documented; however, underlying reasons remain poorly understood. This study sought to identify barriers to the delivery of quality breast cancer treatment, addressing compliance with the National Quality Forum (NQF) quality metric for adjuvant hormone therapy (HT; administration of HT within 365 days of diagnosis in eligible patients) at an urban safety net hospital.

Methods: This retrospective, observational study included women diagnosed with nonmetastatic, T1c or greater, estrogen and/or progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer from 2006 to 2008.