Study on the impact of cancer on black women

The American Cancer Society is launching a new study on the prevalence of cancer among black women.

Carol Johnson-Cromer is currently battling breast cancer for the third time.

“I was shocked,” said Johnson-Cromer, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, at age 38.

She underwent a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and endocrine therapy to beat her cancer. But nearly 20 years later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer again and underwent a mastectomy. She is currently developing a new treatment plan as she deals with her most recent diagnosis from last year.

“I just continue to survive and thrive and live my life,” Johnson-Cromer said.

Now 62, Johnson-Cromer has overcome all odds, as black women under 50 are twice as likely to die of breast cancer as white women, according to the American Cancer Society .

“We continue to see inequities in cancer among Black women that we cannot address with general population studies alone,” said Alpa Patel, senior vice president of population sciences and co-principal investigator of Voices of Black Women with the American Cancer Society.

The American Cancer Society launches its new study Voices of Black Women. It will last 30 years and analyze the health of 100,000 cancer-free black women aged 25 to 55.

“We collect information about how you live, work and play and all aspects of your lived experiences so that we can then see how these factors are associated with the risk of developing cancer. And after a cancer diagnosis, how those factors can affect your chances of surviving that cancer diagnosis,” Patel said.

Johnson-Cromer is an ambassador for Voices of Black Women. She said a study like this is needed.

“To help Black women in the community survive and thrive in generations to come, it is very important that we explore and study what the risk factors for cancer are,” Johnson-Cromer said.

The study was just launched this week. The American Cancer Society is working to enroll participants in 20 states and Washington, DC. To participate, you must currently be a Black woman between the ages of 25 and 55 and have never been diagnosed with cancer.

You can find out more and register here.