Black, Hispanic breast cancer patients more likely than Whites to die from second primary cancer

Black and Hispanic female survivors of breast cancer experience higher death rates than White women after being diagnosed with a second primary cancer. In a study of nearly 40,000 adult survivors of breast cancer, the risk of death from a second cancer was 12 percent among Black survivors and 8 percent higher among Hispanic survivors compared with White survivors.

Survivors in racial and ethnic minorities were diagnosed with second cancers up to six years younger than White survivors, and within a shorter time from their first cancer. Additionally, Black survivors had a 44 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease-related death after a second cancer diagnosis than White survivors.

• See “Black, Hispanic survivors of breast cancer have higher death rates from second cancers” on the EurekAlert! website (June 9, 2023)
• See the abstract of the scientific paper “Racial and ethnic disparities in mortality among breast cancer survivors after a second malignancy” by Zhengyi Deng et al.