Chemotherapy dose selection in a diverse sample of medically underserved women with breast cancer.

221 Background: Black race, lower socioeconomic status, and obesity have been associated with reduced first cycle doses of adjuvant chemotherapy. There are no data on dosing patterns in Hispanics. The purpose of this study was to investigate chemotherapy dose selection among a diverse sample of patients treated for breast cancer through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Treatment Act (BCCPT) in the state of California from February 2003 to September 2005. Methods: Extensive medical record review of patients who received chemotherapy was performed. We calculated the first cycle dose ratio by dividing the actual doses of chemotherapy delivered by the expected doses. Expected doses were those in standard chemotherapy regimens. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify clinical and non-clinical factors associated with dose reductions. Results: Among 658 patients with stages I to III breast cancer in the sample, 522 received chemotherapy. After exclusions, the final anal...