Breast cancer survival rates improved in Florida from 1990-2015 but still much lower for Black women

While breast cancer mortality rates have declined over the last few decades in Florida for all women, regardless of race or ethnicity, Florida Black women are still twice as likely to die from breast cancer compared to other ethnicities, according to an analysis of medical records from 1990 to 2015.

Around 1990, breast cancer mortality rates began to decline, reflecting improved screening and the availability of new therapeutics, but the decline was far slower in Black women.

In White women, 10-year mortality decreased from 20.6 percent in the first five years (1990-1994) to 14.0 percent in 2010-2015. In Black women, 10-year mortality decreased from 36 percent to 25.9 percent.

• See “Study Finds Breast Cancer Mortality Rates Still Higher for Black Women” by Wendy Sarunni on the University of Central Florida College of Medicine website (July 2, 2021)
• See the abstract of the scientific paper “Trends in Breast Cancer Survival by Race-Ethnicity in Florida, 1990-2015” by Robert B Hines et al.