Many factors including racism, socioeconomic inequality, and delays in diagnosis and detection of the deadly disease lead to these figures
In the US, Black women are more than 40 per cent more likely to die of breast cancer than their white counterparts, a new study has revealed. According to the research, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, scientists said black women are at higher risk of dying from tumours with the size of this disparity varying from 17-50 per cent, depending on the type of breast cancer.
The study, which evaluated data from 18 sources taken between 2009 and 2022, analyzed a total of 228,885 breast cancer cases, 34,262 of which were in Black women.
"These findings underscore a stark reality in our healthcare system: Black women are facing higher risks of death from breast cancer compared to their white counterparts, across all types of the disease. This disparity isn't just about biology," co-author Paulette Chandler, associate epidemiologist in the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said in a news release.
What causes a large number of cancer fatalities in black women?
According to experts, many factors including racism, socioeconomic inequality, and delays in diagnosis and detection of the deadly disease lead to these figures.
Also, many say that black women have inadequate access to timely quality cancer treatment.
"To achieve equity, intervention is necessary at multiple levels — from community to healthcare systems and individual healthcare providers to patients themselves learning about their disease and what their expectations should be for their care," senior author Erica Warner, a cancer epidemiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in the release, as quoted by CBS News.
According to doctors, hormone-negative tumours are less common, and racial disparities in breast cancer survival for hormone-negative subtypes were likely not observed previously because individual studies lacked statistical power due to the small number of cases.
What is breast cancer?
You may get detected with breast cancer when the breast cells mutate and become cancerous cells that multiply and form tumours. Breast cancer typically affects women aged 50 years and older but can also affect men. Healthcare providers mostly treat breast cancer with surgery to remove tumors or treatment to kill cancerous cells.
About 80 per cent of breast cancer cases are invasive, meaning a tumor may spread from your breast to other areas of your body.
According to doctors, breast cancer is classified by subtypes through receptor cell status. Receptors are protein molecules in or on cells’ surfaces that attract or attach to certain substances in your blood, including hormones like estrogen and progesterone. Both of these help cancerous cells to grow so, finding out if cancerous cells have estrogen or progesterone receptors helps doctors plan breast cancer treatment.
Risk factors for breast cancer
While doctors are not sure what triggers breast cancer, research says there are several risk factors that may increase your chances of developing it, a few of these include:
- Being 50 years or older
- If your parents, siblings, children, or other close relatives have breast cancer
- Up to 15 per cent of women with breast cancer develop the disease because they have inherited genetic mutations.
- Tobacco use or smoking
- Drinking beverages that contain alcohol
- Obesity
- Radiation exposure
- Hormone replacement therapy
Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Health and around the world.
.svg)
.svg)
