Race, genes and breast cancer

Genetic factors influence breast cancer rates in different races:

Even though black women get breast cancer less often, when they do, it’s often more advanced than in white women.

Now, researchers have found similarities in breast cancer between African women and U.S. black women. This, they say, points to a possible genetic cause for more advanced breast cancers among black American women.

The researchers noticed several parallels between breast cancer patients in Africa and black women with breast cancer in the U.S.

Both groups tend to get breast cancer at younger ages than white women. They are also often diagnosed with more advanced breast cancers. Black women with breast cancer in the U.S. and Africa also die more often from the disease than white women.

In the news:

Researchers say breast cancer in Africa may provide clues to the disease in African-Americans

Genes: Key to Advanced Breast Cancer in Blacks?