This study seeks to better understand the spatial epidemiology of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and associated neighborhood and built environment factors. The study is based in Miami-Dade County (MDC), a metropolitan region with a legacy of racial segregation that remains an important structural determinant of health disparities. We analyzed data from 935 TNBC cases drawn from a major cancer center registry, and diagnosed during 2005–2017, to explore spatial and space-time clusters of TNBC rates at the census tract and neighborhood scales. We also conducted regression analysis to examine relationships between eight socio-environmental determinants of health and TNBC rates at both ecological scales. We found statistically significant spatial clustering of high TNBC rates along a north-south corridor of MDC along Interstate 95 and east of Hialeah, a region containing several majority non-Hispanic Black neighborhoods that have been historically marginalized. Among the ecological measures, only the percent of a region designated as a brownfield was associated with TNBC rates at the tract- and neighborhood-level. Our results can help local public health officials and cancer care providers to improve place-specific screening services and patient care, as well as improve our understanding of socio-environmental factors that may shape the epigenetics of breast cancer.
