Breast Cancer – Still too Silent

By George Y. Pearson, PA-C, B. S.

October is devoted to Breast Cancer Awareness. Public campaigns dominate the media landscape to encourage awareness, screening, treatment and prevention. In the African American community myths and urban legends dominate discussions about cancer. The grocery store, church, beauty shop, barber shop and social events funnel information about risk factors, treatment and survival.

Major misconceptions still exist. For example "if you have surgery to remove cancer and it’s exposed to the air, then it makes the cancer grow faster" or "cancer is a death sentence" or "radiation is worse than the cancer". These myths and urban legends are based on past traumatic experiences in the American health care system.

African Americans have higher death rates from all forms of cancer. Death from lung, colon and prostate are higher in African Americans than any other ethnic group. Cancer is second only to heart disease in total deaths. 

The overall survival rates for breast cancer are up for white women, but down for African American women. They suffer from underreporting due to health care disparities i.e. cost, racism,

provider/patient apathy, economic and access issues, in short system wide failures.

The system has under reported illnesses and treatment of women of color with little or no tracking or identification of women at risk. Intervention and treatment options offered to middle class white women are lacking.

Women of color with breast cancer have suffered from a system wide failure at all levels of government, state, public and private health care agencies.

Younger African American women are dying from a breast cancer that spreads more quickly.  Some types are aggressive and resistance to standard treatment.  Our research community has been unable to address this issue. We don't know why breast cancer is occurring in our younger women and why they are sometimes more resistance to treatment than other women.

Research has determined genetics, environment and poverty are factors.  One concept promotes hormones as a risk factor, but a number of African American women with cancer have breast cancer receptors which are negative, meaning hormones did not seem to influence the development of their breast cancer. Some research identifies risk factors like obesity, poverty, lack of Next