Research: Latinas delay seeking breast caner treatment

Research revealed yesterday indicates that breast cancer may be harder to treat in Latinas since they wait longer to seek treatment.

According to information disseminated at the Science of Cancer Health
Disparities Conference, two-thirds of Latinas detect breast cancer via self-exam yet on average wait for over a month to seek medical attention. In addition, the study found that screening mammography rates were 83% among U.S.-born Latinas and 62% among Latinas born outside of the U.S. Another set of research concluded that U.S.-born Latinas were more likely to have a number of risk factors for breast cancer such as obesity and a family history of the disease.

Why do Latinas delay seeking breast cancer treatment? Part of it has to do with a lack of health care but there are other factors:

"We asked what the reasons were," said Rachel Zenuk, a graduate student at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, who spoke about the study. "A third cited they didn't have insurance or were unable to afford medical care. Or they thought it was not important to report the medical finding to a professional."

Other factors included fear of the results and difficulty scheduling an appointment, she said…

"(Latinas are) not getting more breast cancer than other women, but they're less likely to survive as long," said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, a member of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's National Health Advisory Council and chairwoman of the Komen Foundation National Hispanic/Latino Advisory Council. "The reason is they're diagnosed at a later stage of the cancer."

Image- Associated Content
Online Sources- CNN, U.S. News and World Report