Routine Screening Can Eliminate Breast Cancer Inconsistencies Between Black and White Women

Regular mammography screening can help lessen the breast cancer disparity between black and white women, according to new research.

The study’s findings were published September 27, 2012, in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Earlier studies have shown that black women based in Chicago (IL, USA), are more than twice as likely to die of breast cancer compared to white women. Black women with breast cancer arrive at the disease’s later stages more frequently than white women, and their tumors are more likely to be more biologically aggressive and larger.

However, according to the findings, when women of both races received routine breast cancer screening (a mammogram within two years of breast cancer diagnosis), there was no disparity in the rate of how many of them presented in the disease’s later stages.

The data come from a retrospective study conducted of women diagnosed with breast cancer from January 2001 to December 2006 at Rush University Medical Center (www.rush.edu) and Northwestern Memorial Hospital (both in Chicago). Data were collected on 1,642 study participants, including 980 who were regularly screened and 662 who were irregularly screened.

“This study reinforces the fact that racial gaps in breast cancer outcomes can be improved,” said lead author Dr. Paula Grabler, an assistant professor of radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL, USA) and a radiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “One solution within reach is simple access to routine and regular mammography screening.”

One significant finding was that women screened regularly, regardless of race, were more apt to have hormone receptor-positive breast tumors than those who did not receive regular screenings. Breast tumors that are hormone receptor-positive contain receptors for the hormones estrogen and progesterone, making them more responsive to hormone therapy such as aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen and leads to a better survival rates. This finding was statistically significant in black women, suggesting that early detection can inhibit the development of negative prognostic biologic features in some women.

“This suggests that poor prognostic biological factors such as receptor status and tumor grade, once thought to be innate and immutable, may be significantly ameliorated by regular mammography screening, especially in black women,” said Dr. David Ansell, the study’s senior author and chief medical officer at Rush University Medical Center. “This is a unique finding that will require further exploration.”

Related Links:
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Rush University Medical Center