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Black Activists Angered By New Breast Cancer Guidelines

Written by News One on November 18, 2009 8:25 am

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From Black America Web:

The American Cancer Society has reported that racial and ethnic minorities still tend to receive lower-quality health care than whites even when insurance status, income, age and severity of conditions are comparable and are still more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage when treatment is less successful.

A study from the Boston School of Medicine found black women were three times more likely to develop triple negative cancer, a particularly virulent strain of breast cancer that is resistant to traditional treatment, regardless of the age or size of the woman.

RELATED: Women Now Advised To Start Getting Mammograms At 50, Not 40

Over the past year, BlackAmericaWeb.com and “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” have been actively involved in the effort to enroll more black women in the Sister Study, the only long-term study in the United States and Puerto Rico of women ages 35 to 74 who’ve never had breast cancer but whose sisters have had the disease.
Researchers believe the Sister Study will better determine why women get breast cancer, especially reasons that concern environment and genes.

Last December, black congressional leaders met in the U.S. Virgin Islands for the second annual National Conference on Health Disparities, sponsored by The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to address a range of critical health care issues that impact African-Americans. That included evidence that the length of time between an abnormal screening mammogram and the follow-up diagnostic test to determine whether a woman has breast cancer is more than twice as long in Asian-American, black, and Hispanic women as in white women.

RELATED: Study Examines Black Breast Cancer Survivors

Now comes word a government task force has found annual breast cancer screenings for women under 50 are not necessary and that they don’t necessarily find incidences of cancer early enough to affect mortality rates from the disease. Also, the task force said breast self-exams have no benefit, and women shouldn’t be taught to do them.

Click here to read more.

Tags: Breast Cancer, Health
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  • http://newsone.com/nation/new-mammogram-guidelines-could-have-devastating-effect-on-black-women/ New Mammogram Guidelines Could Have Devastating Effect On Black Women | News One

    [...] Black Activists Angered By New Breast Cancer Guidelines [...]

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/flyfisher_20750/ flyfisher_20750

    Something people should be aware of. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, when the push for annual mammograms and pap smears began, there were no previous standards, no large short range or longe range studies to base any recommendations on. The same committee that just made the current recommendations made the original ones, based on NO scientific evidence. It was however, a reasonable place to start. The studies on both issues began in earnest at that time. The committee examined not just the simple issues, but also the access to care for blacks, hispanics, and whites and the consequences. Now, almost 40 years later, these scientists have a huge amount of valid data that has been analyzed to death. The conclusions they reached, the recommendations they made are now based on those long term scientific studies which show very clearly that our doctors acted conservatively 40 years ago, erring on the side of safety, than chancing not doing enough. The studies show it’s not necessary to test so often, that using the new guidelines will provide the same level and thoroughness of care as existed previously. The biggest difference between the old guidelines and the new ones, is that the old ones had no science behind them. The current ones do have the science.

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