Black women with breast cancer experience delayed, longer treatment than whites

One in seven black women with breast cancer experienced delays in starting treatment, compared with one in 12 white women.  And Black women were also more likely to have longer duration of treatment, as were women under the age of 50 of all races, according to a study of 2,841 women with breast cancer.

Black women were more likely than white women (13.4% vs. 7.9%) to have the start of the care delayed by at least 60 days after diagnosis.

“Even among women with low socioeconomic status, we still saw fewer delays among white women, underscoring the disparate experience of Black women, who appear to experience unique barriers,” said Marc Emerson of the University of North Carolina.

• See “Black women with breast cancer experience delayed, longer treatment than whites” on the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center website (September 21, 2020)
• See full text of 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.