Breast cancer survival in Canada and the USA: meta-analytic evidence of a Canadian advantage in low-income areas

Background This study tested the hypothesis that relatively poor Canadian women with breast cancer have a survival advantage over their counterparts in the USA. Methods Seventy-eight independent retrospective cohort (incidence between 1984 and 2000, followed until 2006) outcomes were synthesized. Fixed effects meta-regression models compared women with breast cancer in low-income areas of Canada and the USA. Results Low-income Canadian women were advantaged on survival [rate ratio (RR)?=3D?1.14; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13\u961.15] and their advantage was even larger among women