Race and breast cancer.

You know I had to be skeptical when I saw the word aggressive right next to black women in this article (because I do believe the subconscious mind is always working, even in the *objective* mind of the news reporter), but this study is attempting to separate biological factors from socio-economic factors in the survival rates of black women with breast cancer.

Black women with breast cancer are more likely to suffer from a more aggressive and harder-to-treat type of tumor than other women, according to a study of more than 2,100 Houston patients.
In research that cautions against putting too much emphasis on socioeconomic factors, scientists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported Monday that tumor biology is a component in the lower rates of breast cancer survival among black women.
“The study adds to the growing body of evidence that both tumor biology and access to care and other important socioeconomic factors are involved in the lower survival rates seen among African-American women with breast cancer,” said Dr. Peggy Porter, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “It shows the need to tease out how much of the issue is biology, how much is socioeconomics and what can be done about it.”

It could very well be a combination of factors, but it is important to take any type of study with caution. To say that black women just *get* more aggressive tumors (not that I think that is what they are saying here) could affect health care policy designed to help neglected communities. Just a thought.
via Houston Chronicle.