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Your Black News Headlines: 12/18/2008
Your Black News: Research Shows Racial Disparities In Breast Cancer Care
Doctors are less likely to give black women radiation therapy after surgery to remove early-stage breast cancer than white women, researchers said on Wednesday, adding to evidence of racial disparities in U.S. medicine.
The 37,305 women 65 and older examined in the study had undergone a procedure called a lumpectomy in which doctors removed just the tumor and spared the breast, a procedure less radical than a mastectomy, which removes the entire breast.
Standard care for a woman after a lumpectomy is a series of radiation treatments to destroy any remaining cancer cells. While 74 percent of white women in the study were given radiation therapy, only 65 percent of black women got it.
The study was one in a long line showing U.S. blacks get inferior care for cancer and a variety of other ailments than whites. Experts concerned about the disparities have struggled to understand why they persist.
Dr. Grace Li Smith of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, who led the study released ahead of a breast cancer meeting sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and other groups, listed some possible explanations.
It is possible doctors offer fewer black women radiation therapy after lumpectomy, but also possible they decline such treatment or are deemed unable to complete it due to other health problems, Smith said.
“This is a very important area of follow-up research,” Smith told reporters in a conference call…
Your Black World Headlines: 10/28/2008
UN Seeks $60 Million+ For Haiti
Police Seek Clues In Hudson Deaths
Landmark Victory In Niger Slavery Case
Charles Barkley To Run For Governor’s Office
Gabrielle Union Addresses Breast Cancer In Ghana
Police Chief Says Isiah Thomas Lying About Overdose
Lil Wayne Signs With Roc Nation In Multi-Million Dollar Deal