DALLAS-In the United States, Black women are diagnosed with breast cancer at nearly the same rate as white women, yet they are on average 40 percent more likely to die from the disease.
To better understand the disparities in outcomes between Black and white women with breast cancer, Susan G. Komen®, the world’s leading breast cancer organization, examined 10 major metropolitan areas where disparities in death rates and late-stage diagnosis were some of the highest: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Virginia Beach and Washington, DC.
In nine out of the 10 major metro areas that Komen analyzed, more Black lives were saved in 2023 compared to 2014.
“Progress is possible, and we can confidently say that efforts led by Susan G. Komen and our partners are reducing breast cancer disparities and lowering the breast cancer mortality rate in Black and African American women,” said Dr. Sonja Hughes, OBGYN and vice president of Community Health at Susan G. Komen. “Complex situations and a wide scope of concerns continue to contribute to higher death rates for Black women compared to white women, so we urge others to join with us and continue the progress we’re seeing so far until these disparities are eliminated.”
The disparity gap was determined by a Komen analysis in 2015 and reported in ‘Closing the Breast Cancer Gap: A Roadmap for Saving the Lives of Black Women in America.’
Understanding the racial gap in mortality is complex. In comparing data published in 2014 and 2023 by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), Komen discovered improvements have been made in six of the 10 metro areas.
Additional Key Findings from the Analysis:
- The racial gap in mortality improved by double digits in two metro areas from 2014 to 2023.
- The racial gap in mortality grew by double digits in two metro areas from 2014 to 2023.
- Black women in the Memphis metro area are 79% more likely and in the St. Louis metro area, are 75% more likely to die from breast cancer.
Key Findings When Examining Mortality:
- Fewer Black women died of breast cancer in nine of the 10 metro areas between 2014 and 2023.
- The Dallas metro area is the only place where more Black women died of breast cancer in 2023, compared to 2014.
“We’re pleased to see that overall, more Black women are surviving breast cancer and that is driving a smaller racial gap between Black and white deaths. This is a meaningful difference that deserves recognition,” Hughes added. “But too many Black women are still dying from the disease and that means that no metro area has completely closed the racial gap in mortality.”
Komen identified areas where more work is needed to save more lives from breast cancer for Black and white women. Improving interactions between patients and their providers, leveraging communities and organizations to improve systems and passing policies to remove barriers to care would all make the meaningful change that’s needed. While we celebrate the progress achieved and the lives saved, Komen remains steadfast in its commitment to creating a world without inequities. It is the shared responsibility of clinicians, researchers, policymakers, advocates, and communities to act.
Together, we can transform outcomes and ensure that every woman, regardless of race, has the opportunity not only to survive, but to thrive after a breast cancer diagnosis.
