Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women after skin cancer. But it doesn’t affect all women in the same way. This includes people within the various Latina and Hispanic communities. For instance, breast cancer affects women who are of Mexican descent in different numbers than women who are of Brazilian descent. But all Latina and Hispanic women have one thing in common: not enough access to screenings and treatment.
Breast Cancer and Your Ancestry
Latina and Hispanic women account for 29 percent of the 24,000 new breast cancer cases diagnosed each year. Yet few studies on breast cancer have included women other than non-Hispanic white women. And even fewer have taken into account the diversity among Hispanic and Latina women. There’s a lack of understanding in the health community about the many different backgrounds represented.
This means research often considers everyone as one large group. But there can be differences in cancer rates and gene mutations in people from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central or South America, or in a European country like Spain or beyond.
Most Common Types of Breast Cancer
Doctors define most types of breast cancers by whether certain receptors are present. Some breast cancers feed off the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, for instance. Breast cancer subtypes are often named with the terms for hormone receptor (HR) or estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor (ER/PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). If they’re present, you’ll see the + sign after the letters; if not, you’ll see the minus sign.
The most common subtype among Latina and Hispanic women is HR+/HER2-, or luminal A. This subtype accounts for up to 71 percent of this group’s breast cancers. It has a higher survival rate than other types. This is in part because it responds well to hormonal therapy. Other subtypes include HR+/HER2+, HR-/HER2+, HR-/HER2-, and triple-negative breast cancers.
Triple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC, is very aggressive because it has no hormone receptors to target with treatment. It accounts for 15 to 20 percent of all newly diagnosed breast cancer cases in the United States. But among Latina and Hispanic women, it’s 15 to 33 percent. Also, they’re often diagnosed with TNBC at an earlier age – about 11 years younger than non-Hispanic white women – and at an advanced stage.
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