Black women die earlier and more often of breast cancer. Should they be screened sooner?
For years, health experts have recommended that, starting at the age of 50, every woman should get a mammogram every two years. But Christina Chapman, an oncologist and researcher at the University of Michigan, looked at the devastating disparities in breast cancer outcomes for Black women and wondered whether medicine could serve Black women better with a different recommendation just for them.
Fewer women die of the disease now than 20 years ago, partly thanks to mammograms, but that progress has not been equal. Black women have historically died from breast cancer at higher rates than white women, and that gap has widened in recent years despite a decline in the overall mortality rate.
