NIH to Fund Study of Breast Cancer in Black Women

By Stacy SimonThe National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), is launching the largest ever study to try to find the underlying causes of breast cancer in black women, and to better understand why they are more likely to die of breast cancer than are white women. A $12 million grant will fund the research into ways genetic factors contribute to breast cancer risk in black women.Black women are more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to be diagnosed with breast cancer at later stages, and they have the lowest survival at each state of diagnosis. They are also more likely to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype that is linked to poorer survival.Death rates among black women have historically been higher than among white women. By 2012, death rates were 42% higher in black women than white women, and that trend is expected to continue. In addition, the rates at which black women are being diagnosed with breast cancer is increasing. For decades, black women had been getting breast cancer at lower rates than white women, but that gap is now closing.The NCI-funded research will analyze resources from 18 previous studies, which will allow the researchers to compare the genetic material of 20,000 black women with breast cancer to the genetic material of 20,000 black women without breast cancer. The researchers will also compare this genetic material to that of white women with breast cancer.“A better...
Source: American Cancer Society :: News and Features - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Breast Cancer Disparities Source Type: news