Reducing Cancer in 29 Wisconsin Counties

To begin to identify, measure and collaboratively address cancer disparities in our catchment area, MCW Cancer Center member Kirsten M. Beyer, PhD, MPH, MS, examined breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer incidence as well as late-stage incidence and mortality in the eight-county region surrounding MCWCC.

These maps were created using adaptive spatial filtering, a disease mapping method. In adaptive spatial filtering, a grid of points is placed over the study area, and for each grid point a rate is calculated, using a circular filter that expands, based on a threshold specified by the user, to obtain data from multiple locations until enough observations are gathered to calculate a stable rate. The resulting maps display disease rates as a continuous surface.

Dr. Beyer's analysis shows significant disparities in cancer incidence, late-stage incidence and mortality for lung, prostate, breast and colorectal cancer by race, ethnicity and geography in southeastern Wisconsin. Additional work from her research team revealed that Black/African American and Hispanic/Latina women experience poorer survival than non-Hispanic White individuals for breast cancer, and that Black/African Americans experience poorer colorectal cancer survival than Whites in southeastern Wisconsin.

Breast and Colorectal Cancer Survival Disparities in Southeastern Wisconsin
Wisconsin Medical Journal | February 2016

Her work continues, as her lab has partnered with several of our Cancer Center members and other equity experts across the U.S. to examine the impact of several social justice issues on cancer-related disparities in our catchment area and beyond.

Recent Publications

Bemanian A, Cassidy LD, Fraser R, Laud PW, Saeian K, Beyer KMM. Ecological Study of Variability in the Relationship between Liver Cancer Mortality and Racial Residential Segregation. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 15;18(18):9732. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18189732. PMID: 34574655; PMCID: PMC8465489.

Beyer KMM, Zhou Y, Laud PW, McGinley EL, Yen TWF, Jankowski C, Rademacher N, Namin S, Kwarteng J, Beltrán Ponce S, Nattinger AB. Mortgage Lending Bias and Breast Cancer Survival Among Older Women in the United States. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Sep 1;39(25):2749-2757. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.00112. Epub 2021 Jun 15. PMID: 34129388; PMCID: PMC8407650.

Bikomeye JC, Beyer AM, Kwarteng JL, Beyer KMM. Greenspace, Inflammation, Cardiovascular Health, and Cancer: A Review and Conceptual Framework for Greenspace in Cardio-Oncology Research. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 19;19(4):2426. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19042426. PMID: 35206610; PMCID: PMC8872601.

Michaels EK, Canchola AJ, Beyer KMM, Zhou Y, Shariff-Marco S, Gomez SL. Home mortgage discrimination and incidence of triple-negative and Luminal A breast cancer among non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White females in California, 2006-2015. Cancer Causes Control. 2022 May;33(5):727-735. doi: 10.1007/s10552-022-01557-y. Epub 2022 Feb 3. PMID: 35113296; PMCID: PMC9010391.

Bemanian A, Cassidy LD, Fraser R, Laud PW, Saeian K, Beyer KMM. Racial disparities of liver cancer mortality in Wisconsin. Cancer Causes Control. 2019 Dec;30(12):1277-1282. doi: 10.1007/s10552-019-01232-9. Epub 2019 Sep 17. PMID: 31531799; PMCID: PMC6858574.

Kwarteng JL, Beyer KMM, Banerjee A, Stolley MR. Facilitators of behavior change and weight loss in an intervention for African American Breast Cancer Survivors. Cancer Causes Control. 2020 Aug;31(8):737-747. doi: 10.1007/s10552-020-01315-y. Epub 2020 May 15. PMID: 32415529.