(NewsNation) — Black women may need to start breast cancer screening eight years earlier than other patients, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
The disease is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, and black women face higher mortality rates from this disease. Experts hope race-specific screening might help in reducing this disparity.
Researchers analyzed mortality data from more than 415,000 patients to help determine whether screening ages should be adjusted to help alleviate differences in outcomes.
“Study findings suggested that when breast cancer screening was recommended to start at age 50 years for the general female population, Black females should start screening eight years earlier, at age 42 years, whereas white females could start at age 51 years,” corresponding author Mahdi Fallah, MD, PhD, with the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, and colleagues concluded.
They added: “These findings suggest that health policymakers and clinicians could consider an alternative, race and ethnicity-adapted approach in which Black female patients start screening earlier.”
Researchers conducted the study using a nationwide sample of U.S. breast cancer death data spanning from 2011 to 2020. The risk-adapted starting age of breast cancer screening by race and ethnicity was measured based on a 10-year cumulative risk of breast cancer-specific death.
Black women were found to have an elevated risk of dying due to the early onset of breast cancer, necessitating the need for early screening.
Researchers also determined that American Indian, Alaska Native and Latin females should ideally start screening at 57 years, while those of Asian Pacific Island origin should begin at 61.
Researchers didn’t assess any potential harms associated with screening women at a younger age nor explore specific imaging modalities. However, researchers highlighted a previous modeling study, which found biennial mammograms for Black women beginning at age 40 were associated with a 57% decrease in the mortality gap between them and white women.
Experts recommend patients create a screening plan with their health care provider in their 30s or early 40s.