Breast Cancer Survivorship: The role of perceived discrimination and sexual identity

In 2007 2,477,847 breast cancer survivors were reported in the United States (NCI, 2008) and more than 89% of those diagnosed with breast cancer will ultimately surpass the five year ‘cancer free mark', becoming known as ‘cancer survivors'. It is established that breast cancer disproportionately affects lesbian identified women compared to heterosexually identified women, but it remains unknown how sexual identity based discrimination impacts the processes of breast cancer survivorship. As more and more breast cancer survivors attain and live past the five-year cancer ‘survival' mark, it is clear that breast cancer survivorship is a complex process that lasts in many cases long into life past a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. The National Cancer Institute (2008) broadly defines cancer survivorship as the “physical, psychological, and economic issues of cancer from diagnosis until the end of life”. Accumulating evidence makes clear that process of breast cancer survivorship is influenced by a constellation of important factors, among these is sexual identity. Research demonstrates that race-based and class-based discrimination significantly impacts health care quality and long term health outcomes. Building on this knowledge our study examines lesbian's perception of discrimination in the multiple facets of the breast cancer survivorship process. The primary focus of this study was to assess lesbian breast cancer survivor's perceptions of discrimination during and after their breast cancer treatment experience and secondarily to examine the role of this discrimination on lesbian's report of social support, quality of life, and affect.