African-American women are more likely than white women to die of breast cancer

Joanne Morrison:

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that black women, even after adjusting for socioeconomic differences, are nearly 20 percent more likely than white women to die of breast cancer.

A second study found that women in minority groups, including Hispanics, are half as likely to get complete follow-up treatment for the disease.

"Even after controlling for socioeconomic status and disease stage, African American women were 19 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than white women," said Lisa Newman, Director of the Breast Care Center at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the study's lead author.

"Our research underscores the need to investigate the role of biologic, genetic, and sociocultural factors in breast cancer mortality among black women," Newman added.

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