The Impact of Socioeconomic Status and Social Determinants of Health on Disparities in Breast Cancer Incidence, Treatment, and Outcomes

Purpose of Review Differences in socioeconomic status (SES) and social determinants of health (SDH) account for many of the disparities seen among patients diagnosed with breast cancer. This review outlines how low SES/SDH factors impact patients along the continuum of breast cancer care from screening to survivorship. Recent Findings Factors such as place of residence, race, income, insurance status, and social networks all strongly correlate with the degree to which patients have access to and utilize breast cancer screening, their composite treatment once diagnosed, the financial impact of treatment, and ultimately, their disease and survival outcomes. The increased complexity of community and social networks creates difficulty in understanding the interplay of SES/SDH factors and breast cancer outcomes and has provided challenges in targeted interventions to reduce disparities. Summary Recent research has underscored that non-biologic SES/SDH factors have important and sizable impacts on breast cancer care. Targeted efforts to address these disparities must respond to a dynamic and complex interplay between biologic and SES/SDH factors. Providing high-quality, guideline-concordant, multidisciplinary care to all patients regardless of social factors remains the most important strategy across all healthcare settings.