Non-Hispanic Black women have worse breast cancer treatment outcomes than their peers, according to research presented at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The study analyzed outcomes for more than 4,000 patients with early-stage hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-), lymph node-positive disease.
The research adds to existing evidence of discrepancies in Black and other patients’ outcomes. Although the rate of breast cancer in Black women is 4% lower than in white women in the U.S., the mortality rate is 40% higher in Black women, noted study presenter Yara Abdou, MD, assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“It’s a crisis. We really need to understand what’s happening, and the only way we can understand what’s happening is if we have more Black women in clinical trials,” Jasmine Souers, president and CEO of The Missing Pink, told Patient Power. Souers is a breast cancer survivor who advocates for people of color with breast cancer.