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The Women’s Circle of Health Follow-Up Study: a population-based longitudinal study of Black breast cancer survivors in New Jersey

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Abstract

Purpose

The Women’s Circle of Health Follow-Up Study is an ongoing longitudinal study of African American/Black breast cancer survivors in New Jersey, specifically designed to evaluate the impact of obesity and related comorbidities on breast cancer survival and health-related quality-of-life in this understudied population. Here, we describe our recruitment and data collection methods and compare characteristics of the overall cohort and the subcohort with follow-up data.

Methods

Newly diagnosed breast cancer cases have been recruited into the study since 2006. Pre-diagnosis data on relevant factors and a saliva sample are collected during an in-person interview within 12 months from diagnosis. In 2013, we began active follow up by recontacting participants annually, including two home visits at approximately 2 and 3 years post-diagnosis, during which blood samples are collected. Mortality outcomes (all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality) are ascertained through linkage with New Jersey State Cancer Registry files. We expect to assemble a cohort of over 2000 Black breast cancer survivors with at least 800 of them having detailed post-diagnosis data.

Results

Distribution of sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index, comorbidities, clinicopathologic characteristics, and treatment modalities were very similar between those in the full cohort and the subset with follow-up data and blood samples. Obesity (> 50%), hypertension (> 58%), and diabetes (22%) were common in this population.

Conclusions and implications for cancer survivors

This ongoing longitudinal study represents a unique resource to better understand breast cancer outcomes, patient-reported symptoms, and health-related quality of life among Black breast cancer survivors.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the numerous staff at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers School of Public Health, the New Jersey State Cancer Registry, and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center who worked in on the different components of the study for their contribution to the study. We are particularly grateful to all the women who have contributed their time to participate in the study and have inspired us with their stories.

Funding

This study was funded by grants from the NIH (R01CA185623, R01CA100598, P01CA151135, K01CA193527, K99MD013300, K07CA222158, P30CA072720–5919; P30CA072720–5929, P30CA016056), the American Cancer Society (RSGT-07-291-01-CPHPS), and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and a gift from the Philip L. Hubbell family. The New Jersey State Cancer Registry, Cancer Epidemiology Services, New Jersey Department of Health, is funded by the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute under contract HHSN261201300021I and control No. N01-PC-2013-00021, the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under grant NU5U58DP006279-02-00 as well as the State of New Jersey and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, 195 Little Albany St, New Brunswick, NJ, 08903, USA

    Elisa V. Bandera, Bo Qin, Adana A.M. Llanos, Yong Lin, Baichen Xu, Jesse J. Plascak & Jennifer Tsui

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Elisa V. Bandera, Adana A.M. Llanos, Yong Lin & Jesse J. Plascak

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Kitaw Demissie

  4. Cancer Epidemiology Services, New Jersey State Cancer Registry, Trenton, NJ, USA

    Karen Pawlish

  5. Department of Health Behavior, Society & Policy, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Jennifer Tsui

  6. Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Angela R. Omilian, William McCann, Song Yao, Christine B. Ambrosone & Chi-Chen Hong

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  1. Elisa V. Bandera
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Correspondence to Elisa V. Bandera.

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This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Bandera, E.V., Demissie, K., Qin, B. et al. The Women’s Circle of Health Follow-Up Study: a population-based longitudinal study of Black breast cancer survivors in New Jersey. J Cancer Surviv 14, 331–346 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-019-00849-8

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