Boston University develops breast cancer prediction tool for black women

The lack of breast cancer risk prediction models for black women is a key gap, because black women in the United States are more likely to develop breast cancer in the early stages and have a worse prognosis than white women

"As black women in the United States have a disproportionately high mortality rate from breast cancer, it is essential to improve early detection of breast cancer in this population, especially for young black women who have not yet reached the age when they usually start mammograms," the corresponding author, Explained Julie Palmer, Ph.

Breast cancer risk prediction tools are used by clinicians to identify women with above-average breast cancer risk, through mammograms and other methods for early or more frequent screening

Palmer and his colleagues used epidemiological data from three case-control studies of black women in different regions of the United States to establish a new risk prediction model

According to the researchers, this model is simple to use and can obtain all the information needed from women through a few simple questions

These findings were published in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology