ASO Author Reflections: First Mammogram Cancers are Associated with Younger Age at Diagnosis, Greater Disease Burden, and May be More Frequent in Black Women

Excerpt

Whereas breast cancer is currently the fourth most common cause of cancer-associated death among women in the United States, it is the most common cancer-associated cause of death among Black women, who develop breast cancer at earlier ages and are 42% more likely to die from the disease compared to other groups.^1‐3 Prior investigations have shown that the emergence of breast cancer mortality disparities in Black women, beginning in the 1980s, demonstrated notable overlap with the integration of screening mammography and endocrine therapy into standard care.⁴ Accordingly, others have postulated that some aspect of the mortality disparity in Black women may be due to decreased benefit of this population from these landmark advances in breast cancer screening and care. It has been demonstrated that the greatest reduction in breast cancer-related death is achieved with beginning annual screening at age 40 years, yet screening recommendations for commencement age continue to vary across organizations.⁵ We postulated that lack of recommendation concordance may particularly impact Black women, who experience the highest rates of breast cancer at ages younger than 50 years. This study investigates the frequency of first mammogram cancers in Black women versus other self-reported racial groups aged 40–45 years, the age group facing the greatest discordance in mammographic screening recommendations.⁶ …