Breast cancer deaths higher among black women: study

By Joanne Morrison

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – African American women are more
likely to die from breast cancer and minorities in general do
not receive the best treatment for the disease compared to
white women, according to health studies released on Monday.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical
Oncology, found that black women, even after adjusting for
socioeconomic differences, are nearly 20 percent more likely
than white women to die of breast cancer.

A second study found that women in minority groups,
including Hispanics, are half as likely to get complete
follow-up treatment for the disease.

“Even after controlling for socioeconomic status and
disease stage, African American women were 19 percent more
likely to die from breast cancer than white women,” said Lisa
Newman, Director of the Breast Care Center at the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor and the study’s lead author.

“Our research underscores the need to investigate the role
of biologic, genetic, and sociocultural factors in breast
cancer mortality among black women,” Newman added.

The second study, conducted at Mount Sinai School of
Medicine in New York, found that minority women with
early-stage breast cancer had double the risk of white women of
failing to receive radiation, chemotherapy or hormonal therapy
following breast cancer surgery.

“We found that one in three black women and nearly one in
four Hispanic women fail to receive the necessary adjuvant
therapy,” said Nina Bickell, associate professor of health
policy and medicine at Mount Sinai and that study’s lead
author.

The likelihood of not getting proper follow-up treatment
among whites was 16 percent, much lower than the 23 percent for
Hispanics and 34 percent among blacks.

That study also controlled for clinical, demographic and
treatment access factors, including the presence of other
illnesses and whether or not a woman was covered by health
insurance.

Researchers found that women from minority groups were
indeed more likely to have other illnesses and had less
insurance than white women, suggesting that these factors could
influence a physician’s decision to prescribe treatment and a
patient’s ability to actually receive treatment.

“Significant progress can be made toward reducing racial
disparities in cancer death by eliminating the disparities in
breast cancer treatment,” Bickell said.