Breast Cancer Prevention Among Latinas is Overlooked
By Hope Gillette, Huffington Post Latino Voices
For Hispanic women, however, preventative care when it comes to breast cancer is often overlooked, leading to later diagnoses and a higher mortality rate.
Socioeconomic factors and lack of access to health care further hinder Latinas from receiving adequate screenings.
“Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Hispanic women…,” explains the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program. “Some of the factors that increase risk of breast cancer (age, family history, later age at first full term pregnancy, early menarche, and late menopause) are not modifiable. Other factors such as post-menopausal obesity, use post-menopausal hormones, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity are potentially modifiable.”
Despite the disparity seen between Hispanic women and other ethnic groups when it comes to mammograms and other breast cancer screenings, the NEJM study has suggested mammography procedures should be re-evaluated based on the issue of overtreatment for non-life threatening tumors.
Current recommendations suggest women over 40 receive screenings every 2 years. For Hispanic women, changing recommendations may mean an even more significant delay in screening procedures.
This article was first published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.
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