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Recent findings that indicate young black women are more likely than white women to develop an aggressive form of breast cancer that is not responsive to many cancer treatments have “prompted a flurry of research,” the Washington Post reports.

Historically, researchers have attributed studies showing that black women are more likely than whites to die of breast cancer to inequalities in health care, but recent research has shown that even when access to care and treatment is equal, black women still are more likely than others to die of the disease.

A study released last year found that young black women are more than twice as likely as white women or postmenopausal black women to develop a more aggressive variant form of breast cancer, called “triple-negative,” with genetic traits that make it difficult to treat. Now, researchers have uncovered a crucial clue: Black women, particularly young ones, get hit much more often by an aggressive form of breast cancer that is invulnerable to many of the latest treatments.

Because triple-negative tumors do not respond to some of the newest drugs to prevent and treat breast cancer, and to reduce the risk of recurrences, researchers are urgently trying to develop new therapies. -> Source