Racial differences in risk of breast cancer death narrow in Florida, study finds

July 1 (UPI) – Differences in risk of death from breast cancer between racial groups in Florida have narrowed over the past 30 years, according to a study published Thursday by the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Breast cancer deaths have declined more for black and Hispanic women since 1990 than for white women in the state, data shows.

However, black women still have a double the risk of dying from the disease five and ten years after their diagnosis, compared to white women, according to the study.

“Over the past three decades, we have seen improved breast cancer survival for all women, especially minority women, which is encouraging,” said the co-author of the study, Robert Hines, in a press release.

“We need to celebrate the progress we’re making, but we have a long way to go to deliver equitable outcomes for women diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Hines, associate professor of population health sciences at the University. from Central Florida to Orlando.

The results are based on an analysis of breast cancer cases and deaths in Florida, according to Hines and colleagues.

Researchers obtained the records of more than 250,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1990 and 2015 from the Florida Cancer Data System, which tracks cancer cases in the state.

Just under 80% of the study population were women who identified as non-Hispanic white, while almost 11% identified as non-Hispanic black and 10% as Hispanic white.

For all racial and ethnic groups, breast cancer deaths gradually declined from 1990 to 2015, the researchers said.

Among non-Hispanic white women, 10-year mortality declined to 14% between 2010 and 2015, from 21% between 1990 and 1994, while for non-Hispanic black women, it fell from 36% to 26% over the course of the year. from the same period.

Over the past 10 years of the survey, no significant difference has been found in five- or ten-year death rates between Hispanic white women and non-Hispanic white women.

However, when researchers normalized mortality data based on age, insurance status, census tract poverty, tumor stage and grade at the time of diagnosis and treatment received, the 10-year breast cancer death rate for black women was just 20% higher for white women, suggesting that access to quality care may be a key factor in the disparities.

Nationally, breast cancer deaths have declined over the past 30 years due to advances in treatment, according to the American Cancer Society.

Yet black women tend to be diagnosed later – and therefore with more advanced disease – than women of other racial and ethnic groups, the Cancer Society said.

“Since the 1980s, there has been a growing awareness of disparities in breast cancer mortality and the disturbing fact that they have increased over time,” Hines said.

“There was a huge investment to reduce or eliminate these disparities, but we wanted to see if it was effective,” he said.