Afroamerikanska kvinnor mer utsatta för bröstcancer

A study of more than 2,200 women at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia shows that African American women have more advanced breast cancer at the time of diagnosis than Caucasian women. In addition, African American women tend to have breast cancer tumor types that are more aggressive and have poorer prognoses. The findings, the researchers say, are in line with other recent studies and provide more powerful evidence of the continuing need for early breast cancer screening for African American women and the development of individual treatment strategies.

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While African American women have been found to have a lower incidence of breast cancer than Caucasian women, African American women die from the disease at a higher rate. The gap between death rates among African American and Caucasian women is increasing. Though access to healthcare is a strong factor contributing to disparities in cancer rates and outcomes between African Americans and Caucasians, says Dr. Mitchell, the Jefferson study and others have shown that biological differences play important roles.

"Our goal is to develop individualized treatment strategies for women with breast cancer and to also increase awareness, particularly in women in populations with poor access to health care and who are at risk for aggressive breast cancers," says Dr. Morris. "In the future, we'd like to be able to intervene in a more specific way with a more targeted therapy to reduce the risk of the cancer returning, and improve survival." ¹

Så för att rädda fler afroamerikanska kvinnor från bröstcancer måste vi hantera deras tumörer utifrån en rasbiologisk basis. Tänka sig, rasism kan rädda liv!