"It's the Kind that Black Women Get": IBC and the African American Community

Phyllis Johnson Been Through It Inflammatory Breast Cancer Survivor Phyllis Johnson grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. Parents of... Send Message Subscribe: Phyllis Johnson

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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"My friend died of breast cancer. She wouldn't get any treatment. It was that kind that black women get." I had just met Bea, and in the course of our getting-to-know-each-other chat, she had mentioned that her husband was a one-year survivor of an aggressive cancer. So I s...

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Higher mortality rates in AfricanAmerican women....
Teresa-Mary
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 03:41 PM

I found your article very informative. I am not African American but have many friends who are or also share the same discouragement towards health care services you describe. One important factor you did not mention is the relationship between the extraordinarily high percentage of abortions in the black community relative to the population of women overall in the US. The link between breast cancer and abortion has been widely accepted by the medical community. Black women make up over 50% of the abortions but only about 6% of the population. The stats are also higher in the case of multiple abortions. I wish more in the medical community would highlight the long term dangers of abortion especially in groups of women who typically receive less health care services and inconsistent follow up.

Thanks for your article.

re: Higher mortality rates in AfricanAmerican women....
Phyllis Johnson
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 05:59 PM

Thank you for your comment. I'm not quite sure how to connect your information to the lower incidence of so-called "regular" breast cancers among African-American women. The cancer rate is higher for black women only in the IBC subset of breast cancers.

Apparently not all medical experts believe that abortion and breast cancer are related. Dr. Susan Love in the 4th edition of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book cites three large research studies that did not find an association between miscarriages or abortions and breast cancer (p. 152).