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Understanding and effectively addressing breast cancer in A frican A merican women: Unpacking the social context
Author(s) -
Williams David R.,
Mohammed Selina A.,
Shields Alexandra E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.29935
Subject(s) - breast cancer , psychosocial , medicine , context (archaeology) , socioeconomic status , cancer , gerontology , demography , environmental health , psychiatry , population , sociology , paleontology , biology
Black women have a higher incidence of breast cancer before the age of 40 years, more severe disease at all ages, and an elevated mortality risk in comparison with white women. There is limited understanding of the contribution of social factors to these patterns. Elucidating the role of the social determinants of health in breast cancer disparities requires greater attention to how risk factors for breast cancer unfold over the lifecourse and to the complex ways in which socioeconomic status and racism shape exposure to psychosocial, physical, chemical, and other individual and community‐level assaults that increase the risk of breast cancer. Research that takes seriously the social context in which black women live is also needed to maximize the opportunities to prevent breast cancer in this underserved group. Cancer 2016;122:2138–49 . © 2016 American Cancer Society .