Risk of Severe Metastatic Breast Cancer-related Pain, Higher in Non-Caucasians

Filed in archive Cancer , Cases , Genetics , Women's Health on November 28, 2007

Here again is another study that states racial differences with regards to cancer...

Analysis by Dr. Liana Castel of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues found that non-whites experience poorer pain control among women with metastatic breast cancer.

Studies indicate that chronic or recurrent pain affects 30 percent of all cancer patients and 60 to 90 percent of patients with advanced cancer. Age, race, tumor type, genetics, psychosocial context, and culture can all affect pain.

However, it is unclear how pain is influenced by changes over the course of disease due to factors including radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy. The current study was among the first to examine whether race plays a role in patients' experiences in pain over the course of metastatic cancer.

Well, there goes another proof that what's in your genes matter a lot.

Find more details from EurekAlert.