Researchers have known for years that African-American women die of breast cancer at higher rates than white women. Now a new study finds that the rates vary from city to city and the disparity is getting worse, not better.

The study, which looked at breast cancer deaths between 2010 and 2014 in the 43 most populous U.S. cities, found that African-American women are 43% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. That is an increase from 2009, when the difference in death rates was 39.7%.

“This disparity results in 3,854 excess deaths of black women every year. That is a shocking and alarming number,” says study researcher Marc S. Hurlbert, PhD, of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in New York.

In 42 of the 43 cities examined in the study, African-American women die from breast cancer at higher rates than white women. In Boston, women of both races die at about the same rate.

The difference in death rates is “startlingly high” in Atlanta, where African-American women are dying of breast cancer at a rate more than double that of white women, according to the Avon Foundation, which funded the study.

Cities topping the list with the largest breast cancer death disparities are:

    Atlanta
    Austin, TX
    Wichita, KS
    San Antonio, TX
    Kansas City, MO
    Dallas
    Memphis, TN
    Los Angeles
    Oklahoma City
    Chicago

“My hope is that as people look at this data and see these numbers, they understand we need to make sure we are ending breast cancer for every woman, not just some women, and I hope it is a call to action in many of these communities,” says Cheryl Heinonen, president of the Avon Foundation.

Source: WebMD.com

Date Posted: Tuesday, October 4th, 2016 , Total Page Views: 1885