Black women are more likely than white women to pass away from all types of breast cancer, including the most treatable ones, according to a newly published study.
Released in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers analyzed approximately 229,000 cases of women with breast cancer- 34,000 of which were Black women- stemming from 18 different studies.
The increased survival risk for Black women reportedly varied from 17% to 50%; when it came to breast cancer involving estrogen, there was an increased risk, ranging from 34% to 50% for Black women.
According to the researchers, there are multiple factors that contribute to this higher mortality rate across all types of breast cancer. Along with system racism, including a lack of access to social and economic equality, issues such as delays when going to receive a diagnosis as well as treatment are all contributors to the disparity.
“Our findings demonstrate that multiple, interacting factors contribute to disparities in breast cancer survival between Black and white women,” said senior researcher Erica Warner, a cancer epidemiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a hospital news release. “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.”
Black women, in general, are often burdened with higher rates when it comes to most cancers. Previous research has found that, when it comes to cervical cancer, Black women record incidence rates that amount to 9 per every 100,000 people compared to 7.1 per every 100,000 for white women.
Pancreas cancer is also more prevalent amongst Black women as approximately 14.9 out of every 100,000 Black women are diagnosed with this type of cancer; similarly, white women record 11.7 cases out of every 100,000.
To address the higher rates, multiple organizations have been announcing methods of gathering enough research to address existing disparities.
In May of this year, the American Cancer Society announced that they would be conducting what is known as the largest national study on why Black women have the lowest survival rate for most cancers. Called “The Voices of Black Women” study, the initiative will recruit a minimum of 100,000 Black women across 20 states and the District of Columbia. Over the course of 30 years, the study will track participants’ health, including lifestyle factors, medical history and experiences with racism, to determine which factors have a larger impact.
“Voices of Black Women represents a crucial step toward achieving health equity in a population that is long overdue,” said Dr. Alpa Patel, the senior vice president of population science at the American Cancer Society and an investigator involved in the study, in a statement.“The data we’ve uncovered through previous population studies has been critical in reducing the unacceptably high burden of cancer, but the reduction has sadly not been equal.”
“By centering Black women’s voices and experiences, we can dig deeper in uncovering the unique challenges and barriers contributing to cancer disparities and develop tailored interventions to mitigate them,” he added.
