This even includes Black women who get care according to standard treatment recommendations.
Still, theres so much more to know, especially if youre a Black woman.
Black women are often diagnosed with more aggressive forms of breast cancer.
Amika Cooper
Breast cancers that do have these receptors receive signals from different hormones that tell them to grow.
But there is research in the works, like theTARA study, which is being led by Dr. Torres.
Black women are underrepresented in clinical trials, often for reasons beyond their control.
Guerra says health care professionals have to leave the hospitals and go into the communities.
Her research, which appears in a recent issue of theJournal of Clinical Oncology6did just that.
Black women tend to have denser breasts.
Having dense breasts means you have more glandular and fibrous connective tissue than fat.
Dense breasts can be normal and are in fact pretty common!
Nearly half of all women 40 and older who getmammogramshave dense breasts.
Women with dense breasts are 1.2 times more likely to develop breast cancer than those with average breast density.
This is why 3D mammograms and supplemental screenings with ultrasound are key for any woman with dense breasts.
But access is again an issue here.
Black women may have more estrogen exposure over time.
Estrogen is inherent in people assigned female at birth.
Its part of what allows us to potentially becomepregnantand bear children, Dr. Guerra explains.
But too much long-term exposure to the hormone can increase breast cancer risk.
Thats a DNA error that then leads to a tumor.
Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.
Black women may need to get screened for breast cancer earlier.
When it comes to breast cancer screening guidelines, they dont all say the same thing.
One thing they do have in common: Many guidelines, such as those from theU.S.
Nikia Hammonds-Blakely, 43, was also diagnosed at an early age.
Revising screening guidelines might prove beneficial when it comes to catching breast cancer earlier in Black women.
Black women are often forced to be their own health advocates.
She told me to come back in 10 years.
But Hempstead insisted, and luckily she did.
I wasnt listened to, I felt devalued as a human being.
I couldnt believe that I found myself demanding something that my insurance covers, says Hempstead.
