African Heritage: Linked To Deadliest Form of Breast Cancer

Filed in archive Cancer , Studies , Women's Health on August 8, 2010

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The deadliest form of breast cancer was found to be predominantly present among women of African heritage in a recent study conducted at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. This is the so called "triple negative" version of breast cancer which is the designation that refers to a trio of affected hormone receptors and is considered the hardest to treat.

The study - which was authored by Dr. Lisa A. Newman - produced results showing that the triple negative version of the disease was found in only 16 percent of the white women subjects. On the other hand, the aggressive form of the disease was present in more than 25 percent of the African-American women patients and in a whopping 82 percent of the African women subjects.

Although the trio of hormone receptors is the target for the most advanced treatment studies, it seems that success has not been met in terms of helping women with triple negative breast cancer. The irony is that, women of African heritage are generally at low risk for breast cancer affliction. However...when they do get the disease, it is usually in the deadliest form and comes at an earlier age.