Black patients may need to get breast cancer screenings at an earlier age, according to a newly published study.
Available in the scientific journal JAMA Network Open, the study, titled “Race and Ethnicity–Adjusted Age Recommendation for Initiating Breast Cancer Screening,” was conducted by a group of researchers from global affiliations like the Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Institute of Primary Health Care and the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care amongst others.
As part of the study, they looked at the given information on U.S. breast cancer deaths from 2011 to 2020, analyzing over 400,000 deaths from the illness. In their results, the researchers reported that, amongst the patients that passed away before the age of 40, Black patients were passing away in this age group at rates that were higher than any other race or ethnicity. In this age range, Black patients with breast cancer passed away at a rate of 27 deaths out of 100,000 people each year.
The number was significantly higher than white patients in the group that passed away from the illness. As white people recorded 15 deaths out of every 100,000 people per year, there were eleven deaths per 100,000 people each year for other groups such as Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander patients represented in the study.
The study also found that the average age of dying for a breast cancer patient was between the ages of 50 and 59, with a calculated 0.329% chance of passing away. According to their findings, however, the researchers reported that, on average, Black patients typically reach this percentage of risk at the younger age of 42.
“This study provides evidence-based race-adapted starting ages for BC screening,” said the researchers in the conclusion of their study. “These findings suggest that health policy makers may consider a risk-adapted approach to BC screening in which individuals who are at high risk are screened earlier to address mortality due to early-onset BC before the recommended age of mass screening.”
Overall, Black women are among the patients that are most likely to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer. According to reports by the nonprofit Susan G. Komen, Black women have a 14% lifetime risk of breast cancer; the percentage is just two percent less than white women, who are the most likely to get breast cancer. In younger age groups, however, Black women are most likely to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Risk factors for breast cancer include certain genes in family history, smoking and certain birth control medication, amongst other factors, according to the American Cancer Society.
