Black and white women are diagnosed with breast cancer at about the same rates, but Black women face a roughly 40% higher risk of dying from it. A recent study confirmed that this pattern holds true across all types of breast cancer. This disparity is partly due to non-biological factors, such as socioeconomic issues, delays in diagnosis, and systemic racism.
Experts stated that Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer regardless of the subtype, which points to the fact that social and structural health drivers significantly contribute to this issue. While it’s established that Black women die from breast cancer more often than white women, the new research sought to see if this holds true for all the different types of breast cancer.
Breast cancer includes various types with different risk factors and outcomes. Some tumors are “triple-negative,” meaning they lack certain hormones and proteins, making them more aggressive with fewer treatment options. On the other hand, “hormone receptor-positive” tumors, which have more treatment possibilities, generally have a better outlook. HER2-positive tumors tend to spread faster but respond better to treatments than HER2-negative ones. Black women are more frequently diagnosed with the aggressive triple-negative type and less often with the more treatable hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative type, contributing to the mortality gap.
The study, analyzing data from 18 research papers that included over 34,000 Black and 182,000 White women with different stages of breast cancer, found that Black women had significantly higher death rates across different tumor types. This finding indicates that factors beyond biology are at play.
One challenge is detecting hormone receptor-positive tumors promptly through mammograms, which could widen care gaps. Limitations of the study included lower participant numbers in some cancer subtype analyses and a lack of detailed data on participants’ experiences, which might have influenced results.
Previous studies have shown that Black women tend to be diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages compared to White women, and while their breast cancer rates have been rising slightly each year since 1975, white women’s rates have remained stable. Other racial minorities, like American Indian/Alaska Native women also face high mortality rates despite lower incidences of breast cancer.
According to experts, factors like healthcare access, socioeconomic barriers, and cultural challenges play crucial roles in these disparities. Some Black women may have issues with health insurance, find it hard to access quality healthcare facilities, and face logistical challenges that make getting screened or treated more difficult. Additionally, mistrust of medical systems can prevent them from getting timely and quality care.
These social factors, combined with genetic predispositions, heighten cancer mortality disparities. For example, Black women are more prone to developing triple-negative breast cancer and often have conditions like diabetes or obesity that increase their risk.
Experts suggest solutions include equalizing access to care, offering advanced treatments and clinical trials to all women, and ensuring timely follow-up diagnostics and care for abnormal findings.
Healthcare systems should track patient progress and use demographic data to address any service gaps. More detailed studies focused on Black women’s experiences could help close these gaps and work toward health equity. Healthcare professionals are responsible for raising awareness and advocating for equal access to life-saving care for all women.
