WEDNESDAY, May 22, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- African-American women with breast cancer have a higher risk of dying than Caucasian women with breast cancer.
An analysis of 14 studies involving 10,001 African-American women and 42,473 Caucasian women found that African-American women with breast cancer were 1.22 times more likely to die from any cause, says a report in the June 1 issue of the journal Cancer.
The report says the African-Americans with breast cancer are younger, have more advanced disease and worse outcomes than the Caucasians with breast cancer.
Why this is so isn't yet clear. The researchers say that social and economic disadvantage don't completely explain the disparity. They say ethnicity is also an important factor, but they add that existing studies can't differentiate, identify and measure environmental, biological and genetic factors that might explain the difference between African-American and Caucasian women.
More research is needed into factors such as nutrition, genetics, lifestyle, healthcare and environment, the researchers say.
More information
The American Cancer Society has an excellent question and answer section from Lovell A. Jones, who is an authority on cancer rates among African Americans.
