By: Dominique Lambright, BlackDoctor.org
Physicians typically use additional tests to detect or diagnose breast cancer if a patient is
concerned that a previously discovered lump may be malignant. Women may be sent to a
breast surgeon or specialist. She does not have cancer or need surgery at this time. Breast
issues are common, and these specialists are skilled at diagnosing them.
Whether breast cancer is detected, more tests are performed to determine if the disease has
progressed beyond the breast. Staging describes this process. Your breast cancer’s stage is
based on whether it has simply spread inside the breast, to the lymph nodes beneath your arm,
or beyond the breast. In order to choose the best course of therapy, physicians need to know
the breast cancer’s subtype and stage.
Black Women & Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is an equal opportunity disease in terms of getting it, but Black women have a
41% higher mortality rate than white women. We must understand the demographics of breast
cancer, the factors that predispose women to develop the disease, the different subtypes of
breast cancer, and the preventative measures that can be taken to lessen the likelihood that
women, particularly Black women, will suffer from the disease and ultimately succumb to it. The
ability to anticipate problems and head them off may save and even extend lives.
One of the few ways this can be done is by greatly encouraging and elevating the importance of
really changing the game on Black women participating in clinical trials, improving outcomes,
and changing the statistics around the 40% difference in survival rate for Black women vs. white
women.
The mortality rate from breast cancer is 2.6 times higher among women of color under the age
of 30 than it is among white women. Under 35-year-old Black women are twice as likely as
white women to be diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s a long time before the advised age of
40 when women should get their first mammogram.
Cancer Treatments Are Not One-Size-Fits-All
Cancer treatments aren’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing, particularly when it comes to African
American women. To highlight the need to increase minority enrollment in clinical trials, the
California Black Health Network (CBHN) recently hosted a virtual panel discussion with medical
experts and survivors.
Breast Health: Women, Wisdom, and Warriors was the most recent entry in the Health4Life
Series from the CBHN. The WISDOM study, or Women Informed to Screen Depending On
Measures of risk, was a major topic of conversation because of its emphasis on the significance
of regular breast screenings for Black women and the need for more Black women to participate
in research.
Many Black women see the doctor and go out knowing nothing more than when they walked in.
Your doctor may not know much about your disease, but that shouldn’t stop you from
researching it or seeking a second opinion.
A doctor’s ignorance should not decide the future. We just don’t have the scientific knowledge to
make it happen at the moment. The percentage of African Americans who take part in clinical
trials is 3%.
In addition, socioeconomic determinants of health, including poverty, lack of access to
treatment, and racism in medicine, are often held responsible for the unequal results of breast
cancer.
Treatment Efficiency
After completing therapy, Black women still have a 39% greater recurrence risk than white
women. Black female survivors had a relative risk of mortality 71% greater than white female
survivors.
Standard-of-care medications have been shown to be effective in clinical studies, and here’s the
kicker: Instead of testing them on Black people, they were used on white women. So, it couldn’t
be more obvious, that we don’t respond to the medications how they expect. Drugs aren’t being
appropriately tested if only given to white women since our bodies aren’t used as controls.
When a medicine finally comes out that says, “This drug is particularly for Black breast cancer,
for Black women,” that will be a beautiful day. Improving scientific knowledge is the only path to
making it a reality, and it’s one that must be prioritized. Despite the fact that not everyone
requires the same kind of screening, what goes on throughout the screening process is also
overlooked.
Increasingly, we hear, “We’re getting better.” In fact, death rates are indeed decreasing.
Treatment for breast cancer is improving, but it is worrying that Black women are not benefiting
from these advancements at the same pace as other women.