Despite having a lower incidence of breast cancer, Black women in the United States face a troubling reality. According to a recent report by the American Cancer Society, the death rate among Black women is still 40% higher than white women.
Researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) are taking significant strides to address the racial disparities in breast cancer risk assessment. Led by Dr. Swati Biswas and Dr. Pankaj Choudhary, statistics professors in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, the team has developed a groundbreaking tool called CBCRisk-Black. This innovative tool aims to provide a more accurate and personalized risk assessment specifically tailored for Black breast cancer survivors, who face a higher risk of developing contralateral breast cancer (CBC) compared to white women.
The existing risk prediction tools, including the team’s previous tool CBCRisk, were primarily based on data from white women, neglecting the unique combination of risk factors and experiences of Black women. This discrepancy prompted the UTD researchers to refine their tool and create CBCRisk-Black.
Biswas said one of the challenges to validating their new model is to find large, independent data sets that focus on Black women. She hopes bringing awareness to this issue will promote more follow-up studies.
“That counseling needs to be more tailored,” she said. “This one-size-fits-all doesn’t seem like the right way to go. Their risk is higher.”
Read more on KERA News and the UT Dallas Magazine.