Black Women Face More Disparities in Breast Cancer Treatment

A new study is finding the disparities and delays Black women face in early-stage breast cancer treatment.

Research published on Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open found that older Black women in the United States are less likely to receive standard breast cancer treatments and experience longer delays in starting therapy compared to white women. The study analyzed data from more than 258,000 women aged 65 and older with early-stage breast cancer, revealing that approximately 18 percent of Black women did not receive guideline-recommended care, compared to 15 percent of white women.

The disparities faced by Black women seeking cancer treatment are present in other demographic categories outside of age, including cancer stage, insurance coverage, and neighborhood income levels. As a result, Black women have a 26 percent higher risk of death from all causes compared to white women.

“Non-Hispanic Black race was associated with increased odds of not receiving guideline-concordant care and less timely treatment initiation,” the study states.

The study builds on an analysis of National Cancer Database records from 2010 to 2019, which found that white patients were more than twice as likely as Black patients to begin treatment within 90 days of diagnosis.

“These findings suggest that optimizing timely access and receipt of guideline-concordant care in older adults may represent a modifiable pathway for mitigating racial differences in all-cause mortality among patients with early breast cancer,” researchers from the University of Pennsylvania wrote.

Research indicates that racial disparities persisted even though most Black patients had Medicare coverage, suggesting that insurance alone does not ensure equal access to care. In the study, approximately 79 percent of Black patients and 84 percent of white patients were covered by Medicare.

The research provides more proof into a growing body of evidence highlighting persistent racial inequities in cancer care and outcomes. Previous studies have shown that Black women have a 40 percent higher breast cancer mortality rate compared to white women.

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