Are Black Women Less Likely to Survive Breast Cancer?

Experts have discovered that the breast cancer survival rate for Black women is affected by socioeconomic factors and a quicker rate of metastasis. These factors play a role in the higher death rate from breast cancer for Black women.

Researchers worldwide are studying why Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women.

In the past, experts have discovered that breast cancer tends to be diagnosed later in Black women due to less access to healthcare services.

However, researchers also noted that breast cancer also seems to metastasize more quickly in Black women.

Some experts say socioeconomic factors also need to be taken into consideration.

Sometimes, Black women are so busy taking care of everybody else that they don’t take care of themselves. Then, when they get to a doctor, not only do they learn they have breast cancer, but there’s a spot on their skin, spine, or brain.

Many Black women with cancer are from low-income households in communities without much access to healthcare.

A new study looked at why breast cancer is often far deadlier for Black women than white women.

Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City began their study by looking at data about racial disparities in breast cancer. More white women get breast cancer, but Black women are 40 percent more likely to die from it.

Some scientists attribute those stats to Black women getting a diagnosis at a later stage in the disease, but the team of Mount Sinai researchers said there might be more than one explanation for the disparity.

The Mount Sinai study was released at the yearly meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The researchers found that Black women have a much higher risk of having their cancer spread or metastasize. Metastasis is a leading cause of death in breast cancer patients.

The Black women in the Mount Sinai study were nearly six times more likely to develop distant tumors than white women.

What Were the Numbers?

The researchers studied 441 women diagnosed with breast cancer at Mount Sinai. They reported that of the participants who developed metastases, nearly 7 percent were Black women compared with just over 1 percent of white women.

The researchers and internal medicine experts at Mount Sinai were surprised that the disparity was so significant. The researchers found that this disparity existed despite accounting for late-stage diagnosis.

This disparity has been studied for many decades. Despite the best efforts from healthcare experts, it still exists. Research has suggested that there are other ways to tackle the problem.

What Questions Still Remain?

The study adjusted for age, race, and cancer stage, but they didn’t adjust for socioeconomic factors. Black women’s access to care, insurance, and ability to make appointments all play into breast cancer outcomes.

These factors are essential because poverty is a significant cause of poor outcomes with cancer. If Black women have disproportionately lower access to these resources, that will contribute, but the data did not show it.

There are also biological factors that were not included in the study. The study did not include the type of breast cancer. African American women in the United States have a disproportionate amount of triple-negative breast cancer and have much worse outcomes.

The lack of discernment in the type of breast cancer and the lack of socioeconomic data hamper drawing a lot of conclusions from the research.

The Mount Sinai study should prompt more research into healthcare disparities in cancer treatments and access to healthcare for Black women. The study opens the door for a lot of future research, the most important of which is finding the source of the continued existing disparity in cancer deaths among Black women.