LONDON, Jan 17, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A new study says black women living in
Britain were diagnosed with breast cancer at an average age of 46, compared to
age 67 for white women.
The Cancer Research UK study, published online in the British Journal of Cancer,
looked at 102 black women and 191 white women diagnosed with breast cancer at
Homerton University Hospital in Hackney, East London, between 1994 and 2005.
The researchers said their initial findings suggest tumors in the younger black
patients were more likely to be aggressive, and a higher proportion of tumors
were basal-like -- which means they were less likely to respond to newer types
of targeted breast cancer treatments such as Herceptin, the group said Wednesday
in a release.
"We think the differences in the way tumors of black and white women behave can
be put down to the biological differences between the two ethnic groups," Dr.
Rebecca Bowen said in a statement. "We're now trying to find out why the tumors
are so different so that we can develop new treatments to target the aggressive
forms of breast cancer seen in young black women."
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