--- title: Breast Cancer and Race: How Ethnicity Affects Treatment description: Researchers provide the most detailed look yet at why minority women tend to fare worse with breast cancer canonical: https://time.com/4070036/race-and-breast-cancer/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-13T04:05:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:30.461Z article:section: Health og:title: What Race Has to Do With Breast Cancer og:description: Researchers provide the most detailed look yet at why minority women tend to fare worse with breast cancer og:url: https://time.com/4070036/race-and-breast-cancer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt557b5e7911c7dbfb/698867f6cf40a83057c40290/woman-silhoutte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: Woman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Race Has to Do With Breast Cancer twitter:description: Researchers provide the most detailed look yet at why minority women tend to fare worse with breast cancer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt557b5e7911c7dbfb/698867f6cf40a83057c40290/woman-silhoutte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Race Has to Do With Breast Cancer > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Choosing to Wait: A New Approach to Treating Breast Cancer at Its Earliest Stages [Watch (HLS stream): Choosing to Wait: A New Approach to Treating Breast Cancer at Its Earliest Stages](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qPQnIqEX.m3u8) (5:56)  _Published 2015-10-01. Colletti, 60, was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), also known as Stage 0 breast cancer, in April 2014. But rather than immediately having surgery, Colletti opted for a new form of alternative treatment: active surveillance._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 13, 2015 4:05 AM UTC  woman looking in to sunset in Beijing,China woman looking in to sunset in Beijing,China Jasper James—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 13, 2015 4:05 AM UTC As doctors become more familiar with the different types of breast cancer—those where the tumors are driven by hormones or certain genetic mutations, for example—they’ve learned that women with different racial and ethnic backgrounds may have different risks of developing certain types of cancer. Biology and genetics certainly play a role, but in the latest study published in _Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention_, scientists describe some other factors that are just as important. **MORE:** [Choosing to Wait: A New Approach to Breast Cancer at Its Earliest Stages](http://time.com/4057000/choosing-to-wait-a-new-approach-to-breast-cancer-at-its-earliest-stages/) Recent studies show that African-American women tend to develop a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer called triple negative, which got its name because the tumors don’t recognize hormones like estrogen or progesterone or the protein HER2, all of which trigger abnormal growth but can be thwarted with current drugs. These women also tend to be at later stages of the disease when they are diagnosed, leaving them few, if any, options for treatment. In the latest study, the researchers, led by Lu Chen from the division of public health sciences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and her colleagues report that not only are African-American women more likely to be diagnosed at later stages with the most aggressive form of the disease, but they are also more likely than white women to be diagnosed at later stages for all types of breast cancer. Among the 102,064 women across a broad range of social, economic and cultural strata from 18 different cancer centers who were diagnosed with breast cancer, African-American, Hispanic, Asian and American Indian women showed 20% to 60% higher rates of diagnosis with stage 2 to stage 4 breast cancers of any type compared to Caucasian women. The risk was highest among African-American women, who had a 40% to 70% greater risk of being diagnosed with stage 4, the most advanced, of any type of breast cancer, compared to white women. **MORE:** [Early Stage Breast Cancer May Not Require Chemo](http://time.com/4052234/breast-cancer-chemo/) That strongly suggests that while biology and genes contribute to a heightened risk of cancer, social and cultural factors such as lower incomes may be driving the worse outcomes experienced by these women when they are diagnosed. Studies have shown that African-American, Hispanic and Native American women tend to have less access to screening mammograms, for example. And in Chen’s study, she found that they are also less likely to get the recommended treatment for their disease. Many received surgery to remove tumors but did not receive the follow-up radiation to lower the risk of spread and recurrent growths. “There are a lot of reasons why these women have a higher incidence of particular subtypes of breast cancer that may have something to do with genetics and biological factors,” says Chen. “But being diagnosed at a later stage and not receiving treatment—these disparities we think have more to do with social, cultural and economic factors.” **MORE:** [A Major Shift in Breast Cancer Understanding](http://time.com/4004767/dcis-breast-cancer-treatment/) That may result from a combination of factors involving both the doctor and patient. In some cases, especially in lower income neighborhoods, doctors may not fully explain the reasoning behind or the need for treatment and what it’s supposed to accomplish. Cultural barriers including language and differing philosophical beliefs about therapies may also contribute to the lower rates of complete treatment among minority populations. “We don’t know if they don’t get the recommendations about treatment \[from their doctors\] or if they couldn’t afford the treatment, or something else,” she says. Knowing that non-white women overall tend to be diagnosed at later stages for all types of breast cancer, and that they receive sub-optimal treatment, could help to change that potentially life-threatening pattern. Treatment decisions are increasingly dictated by the subtype of cancer that’s in the breast: whether it’s dotted with hormone receptors, and if so, which type. Addressing the non-medical barriers that are preventing minority women from taking full advantage of these therapies in a timely way could potentially save more lives, says Chen. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] One of the best things about my job is that I see patients who have a potentially lethal diagnosis and I'm able to be part of what allows them to be cured of their disease. The flip side is that one of the least rewarding experiences I have Of. And when I see a patient who is so fearful and so not at peace with her own body that she feels that she has to do extraordinary things to be free of her anxiety of breast cancer. [ MUSIC ] My daughter's initial reaction was, [ MUSIC ] Mom, if it was me I'd take it out. You just get rid of it. My husband and I did a ton of research, and we reviewed studies, and all the information out there, and decided that really we don't have to have surgery. That it's not life- threatening, and I'll probably die from something else. [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] So if you would If you felt a nodule or [ INAUDIBLE ] I'm fortunate to be on the early side of things where most of the patients I see have very early, very treatable problems and I think that's how I got interested in DCIS, because of all the so- called cancers that we diagnose now, DCIS is the very earliest form. [ MUSIC ] Active surveillance is very new. And for many people, both on the physician's side and the patient's side, it's a scary proposition. I'm certainly not condoning it for everyone. I'm not recommending that everyone with DCIS follow a path of active surveillance. But I think it should be considered in the context of all the options that patients have. All of us have different comfort levels of how far we're willing to go to be sure we don't die of this and that other disease. But we all die of something. And we can't prevent everything. [ MUSIC ] So in April of 2014 I was diagnosed with DCIS. When they gave me the diagnosis I initially felt a lot of dread, got sick to my stomach and just thought oh no so what is this going to lead to. My daughter's initial reaction was, mom, if it was me, I'd take it out. And that was initially how she felt until we discussed it. And when we talked about the risks of surgery and radiation treatments, and some of the things that can happen with that, and the fact that these are pre- cancerous cells that may just sit there and never do anything. She came around. So, DCIS stands for ductal carcinoma in situ. And the in situ part is that the cells, the abnormal cells are contained within the ducts of the breast Once the cells break out of the ducts its called an invasive cancer, and those are the cancers that can spread to the lymph nodes and can spread to other parts of the body and eventually cause mortality. [ SOUND ] There have been a couple of very important studies that have been published lately which have shown that for the very low risk DCIS Whether you ever operate on them, whether you do a lumpectomy or whether you do a mastectomy, the patients are equally likely to not die of breast cancer. So removing both your breasts at that phase really doesn't help a woman to live longer. And I feel that for some of those patients They see mastectomy as being a way to rid themselves of anxiety. And that makes me sad. I think there are much better ways to reduce anxiety than to do a pretty major operation after which you're never really going to be the same. And the side effects that patients have in terms of discomfort with themselves. Never feeling like they're whole again. A lot of the work that I do in clinic is being with patients at probably one of the most vulnerable and scary times of their lives. And to be part of that process and to see patients through that is incredibly rewarding. The initial fear that you have I think is just because you don't know what's going to happen, but you know if you read the studies And you look at the information out there, I don't feel afraid at all. I feel great about my decision. If options were given to women, more women would choose active surveillance, but because there's no options out there, people don't know to even ask. Ask. 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