March 21, 2006

Breast Cancer Outcome Among Ethnic Groups

According to a new study, 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.

This study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, highlights the issues involved with racial and socioeconomic aspects of breast cancer. The study has found and even after adjusting for socioeconomic differences, African-American are 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 caner than white women," said Lisa Newman, Director of the Breast Care Center at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor who led the research.

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.

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.

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.


Sherin      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

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Janet      

Breast cancer
Every year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. Breast cancer ranks second as the leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. Until recently breast cancer topped the list of leading causes of cancer deaths in women, but lately lung cancer has claimed the top position. If skin cancer is excluded, breast cancer is the commonest cancer among American women.