Recent studies have shed light on a disturbing trend in breast cancer outcomes: Black women are more likely to die from all types of breast cancer, even the most treatable ones. As a Black female physician, I find these statistics alarming and believe it’s crucial to understand the factors contributing to this disparity and what can be done to address it.
What the Data Reveals
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology revealed that Black women are 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer compared to white women, despite similar diagnosis rates. The study also showed that this disparity exists across all breast cancer subtypes, including the most treatable ones. For the most common subtype (HR-positive, HER2-negative), Black women were 50 percent more likely to die than white women. Even for triple-negative breast cancer, which is more common in Black women but more deadly across the board, there was still a 17 percent higher mortality rate compared to white women, the study revealed.