|
 Researchers analyzed cancer registry data from 2000 to 2011 and
found incidence rates for endometrial tumors increased among all
racial and ethnic groups. But for white women, the increase was less
than one percent overall, compared with 1.8 percent for Hispanic
women and 2.5 percent for black and Asian women.
Survival odds were also bleaker for black women. Researchers
compared them to white women similar in age, tumor type and stage of
cancer at diagnosis. After five years, the black women were 6
percent less likely to survive low-grade tumors and 59 percent less
likely to survive more aggressive malignancies.
The results are surprising, and the reasons why black women have
outsize risk are unclear, said lead study author Michele Cote, a
researcher at Wayne State University’s Karmanos Cancer Institute in
Detroit.
“We have worked over the last decade to try to disentangle the
various factors associated with survival,” Cote said by email. “It
is highly complex, with socioeconomic factors and access to care
certain to play a role. In addition, we believe that there are
differences in tumor biology that we have yet to identify that make
the disease more aggressive in black women.”
Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common malignancy among women,
with nearly 50,000 cases diagnosed in the U.S. in 2013, Cote and
colleagues note in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention.
At least some of the increase in these tumors may be due to rising
rates of obesity, the researchers note. Excess fat tissue produces
more hormones such as insulin and estrogen, which may help cancer
cells grow.
Black women were more prone to aggressive tumors, the study found.
When researchers looked at some of the more fast-growing and serious
types of endometrial cancers, black women were 1.9 times to 2.5
times more likely to get these malignancies than white women.
Hispanic and Asian women, in contrast, were less likely than white
women to have aggressive subtypes of endometrial cancer.
One limitation of the study, the researchers acknowledge, is that
they couldn’t review lab tests of tumors to verify the precise type
of tumor and stage of cancer women had. This might lead to some
misclassification of tumor subtypes, but would probably not be
associated with race or ethnicity, they note.
[to top of second column] |
It’s also possible that issues not addressed in this study – such as
access to specialists or the affordability of care – may have
influenced outcomes for black women, said Dr. Robert DeBernardo, a
researcher in gynecologic oncology at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
“Aggressive endometrial cancers are difficult to treat and cure in
the best of hands, and without access to specialists it is likely
women are not receiving the best therapies and unlikely they have
access to clinical trials,” DeBernardo, who wasn’t involved in the
study, said by email.
While more research is needed to understand the genetics and tumor
biology that might contribute to the endometrial cancer risks faced
by black women in particular, there are still some things women can
do to focus on prevention and improve their odds of a good outcomes
if they do get cancer, said Dr. Joshua Cohen, a researcher in
gynecologic oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center who wasn't involved in the
study.
Women should see a doctor if they have abnormal uterine bleeding,
which can be a symptom of cancer, Cohen said by email. If women are
diagnosed with cancer, they should seek out a specialist in uterine
tumors to get the best treatment recommendations, he added.
For prevention, “live a healthy lifestyle and avoid obesity,” Cohen
advised.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1gXUmep Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention, online August 19, 2015.
(This version of the story was refiled to correct the lead author's
name in paragraph six.)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
