Why Do Some Black Women Have More Aggressive Breast Cancer Than White Women?
Black women with breast cancer are more likely to die of the disease than white women, a fact that has often been linked to less access to care. But emerging research, including a paper presented this week at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, suggests that a difference in tumor biology may also play a factor.In the study, researchers compared the tumor biology of 96 Black women with breast cancer to that of 87 white women. Within these groups, 49 percent of the Black women had their cancer spread, versus 35 percent of white women. The tumors of Black women had higher tumor microenvironment of metastasis (TMEM) scores, a marker that can help predict the likelihood that a cancer will spread.Even after adjusting for other factors such as age, type, and size…