KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A recent study by the Journal of Oncology found Black women are less likely to survive breast cancer. The study found Black women face a higher risk of dying from all tumor subtypes of breast cancer and points to systemic racism as a major cause.
“This is your journey and your fight and you have a choice in how that fight goes,” said breast cancer survivor Lorraine Butler.
Butler is a two-time breast cancer survivor. She first learned of her diagnosis almost nine years ago in September 2015 after getting a routine mammogram.
“It saved my life because I would have never have expected, I felt like I lived a relatively healthy life,” said Butler.
During treatment, she said she spoke up and asked for an oncotype test. The test predicts the likeliness of cancer cells spreading throughout the body
“Unfortunately, women of color aren’t necessarily listened to by their providers so they have to be louder and they have to advocate for themselves more,” said Butler.
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She says in order to receive the test, she needed to get a second opinion from a different oncologist. Experts point to delays in diagnosis, socioeconomic inequality, and lack of access to care as contributing factors to the racial disparity in breast cancer related deaths.
“He was a great cancer doctor. He was not necessarily the best doctor for Lorraine,” said the president of Sisters Living Beyond the Boulevard Kim Jones.
Butler said being equipped with information through resources like the American Cancer Society is what potentially helped save her life. Fellow breast cancer survivor Kim Jones helps women feel more empowered inside and out.
“I was invited to a lot of organizations that were there to help but none of them looked like me,” said Jones.
The organization provides financial resources, housing, medication, and transportation to black breast cancer patients.
“Know that with those things you’ll come out a little bumped and bruised but you’ll come out on the other side,” said Jones.
Sisters Living Beyond the Ribbon has its third annual breast cancer awareness walk on October 5. All proceeds will go toward support services for breast cancer survivors.
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