You Have Breast Cancer! Now What's Next? Update 2014 (PT1)

[N'Zinga Shani]

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  OneWorld Progressive Institute, Inc., is dedicated to bringing the Greater New Haven community reliable information on Health Literacy, Education and Civic Engagement.  In this blog, which is the first of a two-part series on Breast Cancer Education, we provide a broad range of information for all women from a wide array of resources.  We invite you to read and share this blog with as many as possible.  You can learn more about OneWorld and our work in the community at the following links: 

http://www.oneworldpi.org

http://www.oneworldpi.org/health/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/user/oneworldpi/videos   - OneWorld’s YouTube – Please Visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/OneWorld-Progressive-Institute-Inc/1...

Not counting some kinds of skin cancer, Breast Cancer in the United States is:

1. The most common cancer in women, no matter your race or ethnicity.
2. The most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women. 
3. The second most common cause of death from cancer among white, black,  Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.

For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/ (Cancer Among Women)

Breast Cancer In Young Women – Young Survival Coalition

Each year, approximately 70 thousand men and women age 15 to 39 are diagnosed with cancer in the US.¹ Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women in this age group.²

Women ages 15 to 34 and 35 to 54 die more frequently from breast cancer than any other cancer.³  Every year, nearly 1,200 women under age 40 die from breast cancer.⁴

• African American women under age 35 have rates of breast cancer two times higher than Caucasian women under age 35.⁸
• African American women under age 35 die from breast cancer three times as often as Caucasian women of the same age.⁸
• Visit: http://www.youngsurvival.org/breast-cancer-in-young-women/learn/sta...

In 2014 Black Women Are Still More Likely To Die From Breast Cancer

“The Breast Cancer Racial Divide” According to an article published Oct. 4, 2014 and written by JANET ZIMMERMAN / STAFF WRITER of the Press Enterprise

• Black women have a 10 percent lower incidence of breast cancer compared with white women. But within all age categories and stages of disease, black women are more likely to die than women of other races.
• Black women under age 40 have a greater incidence of breast cancer than white women in the same age category.
• Black women are more than twice as likely to develop triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form for which there are few effective treatments.

Read the entire article here: http://www.pe.com/articles/breast-751350-women-cancer.html

We have known for a long time that African American Women (AAW) Get a Much Higher Rate of Triple Negative Breast Cancer.  No one can tell us why and if anything can be done to prevent this.  We also keep hearing that Black women do not have access to information.  This seems a little difficult to understand; if anything, we are inundated with information.  Is it possible that we need to find the keys to getting the attention of Black women in accessing the available information? Personal responsibility is critical in every aspect of health and well-being.

Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics/Latinos 2012 – 2014  

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Hispanic women; an estimated 17,100 Hispanic women were expected to be diagnosed in 2012.  From 2000 to 2009, breast cancer incidence rates decreased from 97.2 (per 100,000) to 93.0 among Hispanic women and from 138.1 to 128.4 among non-Hispanic white women. The trend is going in the right direction.

The breast cancer incidence rate in Hispanic women is 26% lower than in non-Hispanic white women (Table 3, page 4). Within the Hispanic population, the incidence rate is 50% lower in foreign-born women than in US-born women. 13 These risk differences are primarily attributed to differences in the prevalence of breast cancer risk factors.14

For example, an estimated 7% of the reduced risk for Hispanic women is explained by more protective reproductive patterns (lower age at first birth and a greater number of births). 15,16

They may also reflect less use of hormone replacement therapy and under-diagnosis due to lower utilization of mammography; 17-19 in 2010, among women 40 years of age and older, 64% of Hispanics and 67% of non-Hispanic whites reported having a mammogram in the past two years.

See a comprehensive report with facts and figures about rates of cancers for Hispanics

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/d...

 African American women often get Breast Cancer at an earlier age than Caucasian women.   See this short and very informative video: http://youtu.be/OeKBE07FX0g =   5:06 

 Anatomy of Breast Cancer 101- Among ALL Women – Susan Komen- Chapters  =  2:00- 6:00 (timed by segment)  http://ww5.komen.org/bsl_kbc/en/kbc_01_01a.htm