Black women may be less likely to survive a breast cancer diagnosis compared to white women, so what’s being done about it?

Black and white women are about equally likely to receive a breast cancer diagnosis. Beyond that, there are dramatic differences in breast cancer stats.

Black women are more likely to receive a diagnosis at later stages or for more aggressive forms of breast cancer.

The American Cancer Society reports that breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for Black women. Black women also have the lowest survival rate after a breast cancer diagnosis compared to other groups. Between 2014 and 2020, the 5-year survival rate for Black women was 84%. For white women, it was 93%. 

There are many reasons for this disparity. Several are rooted in systemic racism, which affects income, insurance, healthcare access, and various other situations, but information and solutions are available to help counter these concerns.

For example, increasing access to mammograms can help diagnose breast cancer at earlier stages when there are more treatment options and better outcomes.

Also, it’s not biological differences that increase the fatality rate of breast cancer — racism puts people of color at higher risk. Medical training programs are starting to highlight racism as a cause of less favorable health outcomes. 

Another important step is that society is increasingly moving away from seeing “race” as a risk factor. The term is actually a social construct.

There’s still so much to do to equalize breast cancer care for all. Too many Black women are dying of breast cancer. Here are some of the reasons why and what’s being done about it.