New Service for
TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com readers...roll mouse over, click on
highlighted links in stories to review items from Amazon
Breast
Cancer returns more often in Black women
Newswise — Contrary to previous studies, African-American
women with early-stage breast cancer who
have surgery to remove the cancer
(lumpectomy) followed by radiation therapy
have a higher chance of their cancer coming
back in the breast and lymph nodes 10 years
after diagnosis, compared to their Caucasian
counterparts, according to the largest study
of its kind, presented at a scientific
session October 29, 2007, at the American
Society for Therapeutic Radiology and
Oncology’s 49th Annual Meeting in Los
Angeles.
The study also shows that early-stage breast cancer patients
who are African-American women who are
diagnosed with the disease at a younger age
have a higher disease stage at diagnosis
(larger tumors and cancer that has spread to
the lymph nodes) and more aggressive tumors
than Caucasian women who undergo similar
treatment.
“This study confirms the aggressive nature of breast cancer
in African-American women and emphasizes how
important it is for all African-American
women to see their healthcare providers
regularly and to go for screening mammograms
to try to catch any abnormalities early,”
said Meena S. Moran, M.D., the lead author
of the study and a radiation oncologist at
the Yale University School of Medicine in
New Haven, Conn.
“This study also points out the need for further research in
evaluating the underlying molecular, genetic
and biological differences in breast cancers
in African-American women so that we can
develop better strategies for helping these
women beat their cancer.”
For patients with early-stage breast cancer, the current
standard treatment involves a lumpectomy,
followed by radiation therapy to the breast
over a five to six-and-a-half-week period to
kill any remaining cancer cells.
The cohort study involved 2,382 patients over a 30-year
period who underwent a lumpectomy and
radiation therapy for early-stage breast
cancer. Researchers wanted to find out if
there were differences in the outcomes
between AfricanAmerican patients and
Caucasians. Findings showed that 10 years
after treatment with lumpectomy and
radiation, 17 percent of African-American
women had their breast cancer recur compared
with 13 percent of Causcasian patients.
...
...
...