A meta-analysis led by Mass General Brigham researchers reveals that Black women face a higher risk of dying from breast cancer, which is the most diagnosed cancer among U.S. women.
The study’s findings confirm that racial disparities in breast cancer survival exist across all tumor subtypes.
Senior author Erica Warner, ScD, MPH, a cancer epidemiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, said, “Our findings demonstrate that multiple, interacting factors contribute to disparities in breast cancer survival between Black and white women.”
“There had been an anecdotal sense in the research community that differences in survival between Black and white women were greater for the most treatable forms of the disease—tumours that carry hormone receptors—and smaller for the historically less-treatable, hormone-negative tumours,” added Warner.
To investigate this, Warner’s team collected data from 18 studies from 2009 and 2022, through which they analyzed 228,885 breast cancer cases, out of which 34,262 were of Black women.
“These findings underscore a stark reality in our healthcare system: Black women are facing higher risks of death from breast cancer compared to their white counterparts, across all types of the disease. This disparity isn’t just about biology,” said co-author Paulette Chandler.
Researchers point to existing multilevel intervention programs that have reduced disparities in cancer survival.
