Blacks have less breast cancer therapy

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- White women are almost five times more likely to take tamoxifen, an anti-cancer medication, than African-American women, a U.S. study found.

The study, published in the journal Cancer, also found that white women were three times more likely to have adjuvant chemotherapy than African-American women.

Researchers led by Dr. Mousumi Banerjee of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, in Ann Arbor, Mich., found no significant difference in the numbers of white and African-American women who received breast conservation surgery versus mastectomy.

However, women with early-stage breast cancer covered by government health insurance were less likely to have breast conserving cancer surgery and radiation, and more likely to have mastectomy without radiation than patients enrolled in non-governmental plans, or private plans, Banerjee said.

"We have seen that African American women are not getting the optimal therapy as often as white Americans," Banerjee said in a statement. "Some of it has to do with socioeconomics, some with insurance status and/or access to care, but there are choice issues as well, especially with chemotherapy."

Studies have shown that African-American women have higher cancer mortality rates.

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