The subject of whether Black women should begin screening earlier in light of a recent report on Breast Cancer deaths.
In the report, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network Open, an international team of researchers noted that clinical trials may be justified to evaluate whether screening guidelines should recommend Black women begin screening at a younger age, around 42 instead of 50.
Black Women Die most from Breast Cancer
The multinational team of researchers discovered that black women have a disproportionately higher chance of dying from breast cancer, thus they recommend that this group begin breast cancer screening at the age of 42.
Women aged 40 to 49 are recommended to talk to their doctor about their options and create a personalized plan. By 2022, the American Cancer Society forecasts 36,260 new cases of breast cancer in black women.
Black women have the greatest rate of breast cancer mortality and are approximately three times more likely to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive and rapidly spreading kind of cancer.
Over 415,000 American women who died from breast cancer between 2011 and 2020 were analyzed in the current study. Patients were classified according to race and ethnicity. For every 100,000 black women in their forties, 27 of them will die, according to the study’s authors. Fifteen white women in their forties died, making up exactly half of the total.
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What are the Screening Guidelines?
A mammogram is an X-ray image of the breast that doctors analyze to check for early symptoms of breast cancer developing.
Current guidelines from the American Cancer Society suggest that all women should begin considering breast cancer screening mammography at the age of 40 and that women 45 to 54 should get annual mammograms. Those who are 55 or older have the option to undergo screening every other year.
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