Major Research Study on Breast Cancer in Black Women Gets Under Way at the University of North Carolina

The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is undertaking a major new study on breast cancer among African-American women in 44 counties throughout the state. The study will enroll more than 1,000 black women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Half of the women will be younger than 50 and half will be over 50. A similar group of white women will also be studied. The research will keep detailed records of the women for two years after their initial diagnoses to determine differences in treatment and access to medical care.

The researchers hope to determine factors contributing to a mortality rate from breast cancer that is twice as high for black women than for white women.

The study was named after the late Jeanne Hopkins Lucas, a North Carolina state legislator who died in 2007 from breast cancer.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.