Find out ‘Why Do Some Black Women Have More Aggressive Breast Cancer than white women?’ Black women with breast cancer have a higher mortality rate than white women, which has frequently been attributed to a lack of access to care. A work presented this week at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, among other recent studies, reveals that a difference in tumor biology may possibly be a contributing factor.
According to Maja H. Oktay, MD, Ph.D., professor, and co-leader of the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program at Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center in the Bronx, New York, and senior author of the study, having a high TMEM doorway score was linked to a higher likelihood of cancer spread even after adjusting for other factors such as age, type, and size of the tumor.
Why Do Some Black Women Have More Aggressive Breast Cancer than white women? Differences in social determinants Of Health
According to Dr. Oktay’s study, “differences in social determinants of health, such as access to care or treatment, do not entirely explain the continuing racial disparities in some kinds of breast cancer.
The study also discovered that preoperative chemotherapy, which is frequently used to reduce tumor size in an effort to lessen the invasiveness of surgery, actually improved TMEM scores in this group of female patients.
At the press conference, Oktay stated that the treatment “produces alterations surrounding the tumor that can enhance the likelihood of the cancer spreading.” “A previously undiscovered mechanism of resistance to chemotherapy,” Oktay described the discovery. Before the findings lead to widespread modifications in the way breast cancer is treated, more studies will be required, according to Oktay.
