A new report from the American Cancer Society, published in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, has revealed that while the rates of diagnosing breast cancer between black and white women are getting fairly equal, the amount of death resulting from the disease is not getting equal among the two racial women.
Before this time, breast cancer was diagnosed more in white women than in black women, even though the rate of death resulting from the disease is higher among black women; but now, the rate of diagnosed among white and black women is getting to be the same, with disease-related death still rising among women.
What this means is that white women were diagnosed more for breast cancer even though the blacks that had it died more from the disease, but now more women are being diagnosed now to match the rate of numbers among white women, while the rate of deaths among the blacks has not subsided.
The rates of black and white women became almost equal in 2012 when only 135 cases were seen in 100,000 women; but earlier in 2002, the number for white women was 132 while that for black women was 124.
Researchers theorize that the reason for this is largely because white women wait longer before having children – increasing their risks and diagnoses of breast cancer, but black women give birth early in life, possibly reducing their risks and chances for developing breast cancer.
The only thing that remains is that the number of breast cancer-related deaths among white women has reduced, while it appears to be rising among black women. The reason for this might be because breast cancer screening equipment in homes are more available in some parts of the country than in others, while the greater incidence of obesity among black women might be another factor.
After all, medical experts had earlier associated obesity among women to elevated risks of breast cancer. However, earlier diagnosis techniques and better treatment procedures have reduced the likelihoods of associated deaths among breast cancer patients for black and white folks.
http://www.thehoopsnews.com/2015/10/30/9052/breast-cancer-rates-among-african-american-women-increasing-american-cancer-society-finds/
Death rates among white breast cancer patients dropped from 25 to 21 per 100,000 within a decade, and it was 34 to 29 per 100,000 among black women; meaning that it was a 38% difference between black and white women in 2003, but 42% death rate difference in 2012.
One reason why black women have been dying more from breast cancer is largely because they present their symptoms late and get diagnosed at the later stage of the disease, coupled with the fact that they tend to develop more aggressive forms of the disease than white women.
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