Black women in North Carolina with breast cancer encounter longer waits for treatment initiation and a longer duration of treatment compared with white women, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Delay of treatment was defined as more than 60 days after diagnosis. Black women at both high and low socioeconomic status saw delays in treatment.
Delays in treatment and prolonged treatments may be contributing to greater mortality from breast cancer among Black women.
- See “Black Patients With Breast Cancer May Face Longer Waits, Treatment Duration” by Rose McNulty on the American Journal of Managed Care website (November 2, 2020)
- See the abstract of the scientific paper “Breast cancer treatment delays by socioeconomic and health care access latent classes in Black and White women” by Marc A Emerson et al.
