Ethnic Differences in the Impact of Breast Cancer on Employment Status, Financial Situation, and Quality of Life

June 1, 2026 updated by: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Breast Cancer and the Workforce: Ethnic Differences in the Impact of Breast Cancer on Employment Status, Financial Situation, and Quality of Life (BCW)

The purpose of this study is to learn more about how being treated for breast cancer affects patients' employment, financial situation, and quality of life on a short-term basis and on a long term basis. Most studies of employment after breast cancer have focused on Caucasian women.This study will evaluate the impact of breast cancer on the lives of women from different ethnic groups.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
935

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New Jersey
      • Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge
      • Middletown, New Jersey, United States, 07748
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth
    • New York
      • Brooklyn, New York, United States, 11206
        • Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center
      • Commack, New York, United States, 11725
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Commack
      • Fresh Meadows, New York, United States, 11366
        • Queens Medical Associates
      • Harrison, New York, United States, 10604
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester
      • New York, New York, United States, 10065
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
      • New York, New York, United States, 10035
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering at Ralph Lauren
      • New York, New York, United States
        • Bellevue Hospital Center
      • Queens, New York, United States, 11355
        • New York Presbyterian Queens
      • The Bronx, New York, United States, 10451
        • NYC Health & Hospitals /Lincoln Medical Center
      • Uniondale, New York, United States, 11553
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 64 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

We will recruit participants from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), four of its community-based outpatient treatment centers, and four urban community hospitals and clinics that serve large populations of ethnic minorities in New York City. The MSKCC outpatient regional sites are located in New Jersey (Basking Ridge, Monmouth) and New York, with two in Long Island (Commack and Rockville Centre) and another in Westchester County.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Breast cancer survivors

  • Pathologic diagnosis of stage I-III breast cancer
  • Paid employment (full time or part time) at time of consent or in the three months prior to diagnosis
  • Age 18 to 64 years (inclusive)
  • The ability to give informed consent in Chinese (Mandarin), English, Korean, or Spanish.at MSK, New York Presbyterian Queens and Queens Medical Associates At NYC Health & Hospitals/ Lincoln Medical Center, patients must be able to give consent in English or Spanish.
  • At the time of enrollment, participants must still be undergoing chemotherapy, undergoing radiation therapy, or planning surgery unless surgery is to be the only treatment modality. Those for whom treatment consists of surgery alone may have had their operation no more than 2 months prior to study enrollment. Participants need not have undergone surgical reconstruction prior to enrollment if the plan is to delay this procedure until after primary treatment is completed.

Comparison group

Paid employment (full time or part time) at the time of consent

  • Age 18 to 64 years (inclusive) and within an age range that is 5 years above or below that of the nominating or matched survivor
  • The ability to give informed consent in the same language as the nominating survivor
  • Membership in the same ethnic group as the nominating survivor
  • Not treated for cancer in the past year (other than non-melanoma skin cancer)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • N/A

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Case-Control
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Breast cancer survivors
Women being treated for stage I-III breast cancer who were employed prior to this diagnosis will be recruited in their physicians' offices.
Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview
Patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire at baseline, and then one at follow up, 3-4 months after treatment completion. The patient will be contacted one and two years after the completion of their follow up questionnaire for a brief one-question survey regarding current employment status. A member of the study team will call a subset of patients who have completed both baseline and follow-up surveys to clarify responses to previous questions. Patients will be considered lost to follow- up if surveys A or C have not been completed two years from the participant's consent date (participants who enroll but do not complete survey A are not prompted for survey C). Deviations will not be filed until the end of the study, as there are opportunities over the course of study follow- up to collect previously missing information.
Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview
Patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire at baseline, and then one at follow up, 3-4 months after treatment completion. All three follow-up contact methods (email, postcard, call) contain the same question regarding current employment status with minor modifications in formatting. However, the employment question asked in all three follow-up contact methods is shown in the Postcard_Template document. Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic study staff will be working from home. Therefore, calls will be made via MSK-approved platforms (e.g. Jabber, etc.). Participants who express concerns or request assistance related to COVID-19 will be referred to publicly available resources as needed (e.g., call 311 for access to health care or food panties, etc.) and will be noted in internal tracking logs. The data collected for these internal tracking logs will be managed through a REDCap database.
Comparison group
Peer controls will be nominated by participants in the breast cancer survivor group or recruited by community outreach and matched for age, language, and ethnicity. This cohort is no longer recruiting.
Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview
Patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire at baseline, and then one at follow up, 3-4 months after treatment completion. The patient will be contacted one and two years after the completion of their follow up questionnaire for a brief one-question survey regarding current employment status. A member of the study team will call a subset of patients who have completed both baseline and follow-up surveys to clarify responses to previous questions. Patients will be considered lost to follow- up if surveys A or C have not been completed two years from the participant's consent date (participants who enroll but do not complete survey A are not prompted for survey C). Deviations will not be filed until the end of the study, as there are opportunities over the course of study follow- up to collect previously missing information.
Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview
Patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire at baseline, and then one at follow up, 3-4 months after treatment completion. All three follow-up contact methods (email, postcard, call) contain the same question regarding current employment status with minor modifications in formatting. However, the employment question asked in all three follow-up contact methods is shown in the Postcard_Template document. Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic study staff will be working from home. Therefore, calls will be made via MSK-approved platforms (e.g. Jabber, etc.). Participants who express concerns or request assistance related to COVID-19 will be referred to publicly available resources as needed (e.g., call 311 for access to health care or food panties, etc.) and will be noted in internal tracking logs. The data collected for these internal tracking logs will be managed through a REDCap database.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To compare the impact of breast cancer on (a) employment status, (b) financial situation, and (c) QoL.
Time Frame: 3 years
3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To identify barriers to employment and correlates of employment status, financial situation, and QoL.
Time Frame: 3 years
3 years
To develop the methodology to evaluate discrimination in the labor market using a validated instrument and to determine whether or not labor market discrimination is exacerbated by a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Time Frame: 3 years
3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
The City College of New York
New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
New York Presbyterian Queens
NYC Health & Hospitals/ Lincoln Medical Center
Queens Medical Associates

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Victoria Blinder, M.D., M.Sc., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 27, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 27, 2010

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 31, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 1, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 10-071

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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