American Cancer Society begins 30-year study of 100,000 black women's case and death rates

The American Cancer Society "has begun an ambitious, far-reaching study focusing on a population that has long been overlooked, despite high rates of cancer and cancer-related deaths: black women." 

That's the lead of a story by Roni Caryn Rabin in recent editions of The New York Times on an initiative called VOICES of Black Women that noted it's "believed to be the first long-term population study of its size to zero in specifically on the factors driving cancer prevalence and deaths among black women."

Researchers plan to enroll black women without cancer, ages 25 to 55, in D.C. and 20 states where most black women live.

Black women, the story says, have the highest death rates and lowest survival rates for many cancers of any racial or ethnic group. They die of uterine cancer at twice the rate of white women, and are "twice as likely to be diagnosed with stomach cancer and more than twice as likely to die of it," Rabin's piece notes. "They are also 40 percent more likely to die of breast cancer."

Dr. Alpa Patel

Racial disparities in breast cancer are relatively new. The Times story quotes Dr. Alpa Patel, senior vice president of population science at the ACS and co-principal investigator of the VOICES study, as saying that "until the 1970s, there was no disparity in breast cancer outcomes between black and white women. We know now there are more aggressive tumors, especially at younger ages in black women compared to white women, and we don't fully understand why."

Women in the study will be surveyed on their use of personal care products, "including hair straighteners, which have been implicated in some cancers," the article reports. In addition, researchers "will track stressors related to the physical environment, and facts such as neighborhood walkability, crime, air pollution, access to healthy food, and proximity to liquor stores and establishments that sell cigarettes."

More information on racial disparity can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

'Triple negative breast cancer' treatment studied

African scholarship student is working on potential cure for a subtype of cancer for blacks 

A Sierra Leonean student reportedly is developing an alternative breast cancer treatment for black women.

Sandra Musujusu

According to a recent story by Taryn Finley on the Huffpost website, the research of Sandra Musujusu, a student at the African University of Science and Technology in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, is focusing on "triple negative breast cancer, which is actually the aggressive subtype of breast cancer that is common with women from African ancestry."

The Huffpost piece references an article in the Nigerian Tribune that reported the research centering on "the development of biodegradable polymers for treatment of breast cancer."

A variety of African publications have been sanguine about Musujusu's research potentially leading to a cure.

She apparently is using macro molecular science as her basic tool.

Breast cancer, the Huffpost story indicated, "is the most commonly diagnosed caner among women around the world. In 2012, there were 1.7 million new cases worldwide, according to World Cancer Research Fund International."

An online article on the Rollingout website says that "about 1 in 8 U.S. women "will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, according to breastcancer.org."

The National Cancer Institute has reported that approximately 1,211,690 black people have a history of cancer.

In the United States alone, the Huffpost story notes, "black women with breast cancer have the highest mortality rate than any other race, according to the Susan G. Women Foundation."

And the National Cancer Institute has said approximately 1,211,690 black people have a history of cancer.

Musujusu is a World Bank scholarship student.

More information about breast cancer and black women can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.