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Disparity Matters

Genomic testing rates soar for Black men with prostate cancer after help from patient navigators

Black patients helped by precision medicine navigators were six times more likely to receive genetic testing than those not seen by a navigator. After navigators were established in a large health care system, the proportion of Black patients referred for genomic testing rose from 19% to 58%. Genomic testing rates also rose for lower-income patients …

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Most US adults overdue for colorectal screening report not receiving a reminder from clinician

Most adults in US overdue for colorectal cancer screening report not receive a screening recommendation from their clinician despite having attended a wellness visit in the past year, in a study of more than 5,000 adults. Black, Hispanic and Asian patients were significantly less likely to be reminded compared with White patients. The study showed …

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Black women with low-risk form of endometrial cancer less likely to survive the cancer

Black women with a low-risk form of endometrial cancer were less likely than White women with the same cancer to have a hysterectomy, and less likely to survive their cancer in a review of over 23,000 cases. “We’ve known for years that Black women with endometrial cancer have lower survival rates than white women, largely …

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Criteria for genetic testing of men with prostate cancer misses those with mutations who could be treated

Men with prostate cancer who were not eligible for germline (hereditary) genetic testing were just as likely to carry pathogenic variants that could be treated as men who were eligible for this testing, according to a new study funded by a genetics testing company. And men who identified as non-White (mainly Black) men who did …

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Hispanic women diagnosed with breast cancer at more than seven years younger age on average than White women

US Hispanic women have the youngest average age at breast cancer diagnosis at 57.2 years old in 2023, while White patients are diagnosed at the oldest average age at 64.5 years old. Black women are disgnosed at an average age of 61.7 years. Researchers analyzed more than 484,000 diagnoses of breast cancer between 2018 and …

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Disparities in use of hereditary genetic testing in triple-negative breast cancer

Hereditary DNA testing is recommended for all patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) to identify inherited BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations responsible for developing breast cancer and to help physicians in managing their patients’ treatment. To see who is being tested, researchers analyzed the medical records of 1,318 women diagnosed between 2017 and 2021  treated in US community oncology …

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Black veterans are less likely than White veterans to follow through on recommended lung cancer screening

Even within the Veterans Affairs system where cost, insurance status, care status and transportation are lower obstacles, Black veterans are less likely than White veterans to follow through on recommended lung cancer screening. In a study of 4,562 veterans fron 2013 to 2021, only 30.5 percent of Black veterans complete screening versus 41.3 percent of …

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Racial minorities bear a much higher cost burden than White patients for unplanned hospital visits after breast reconstruction surgery

Racial minorities bear a much higher cost burden than White patients for  unplanned hospital visits after breast reconstruction surgery, according to a study of more than 17,000 patients. Researchers could not identify from the data they analyzed why the women had undergone breast reconstruction. Black women were charged an average of $2,840 more than White …

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