Insurance at the root of some racial disparities in breast cancer detection

Women of color are more likely than white women to be first diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, and according to a new study, some of that disparity may come down to insurance. Looking at data from more than 177,000 middle-aged women who received stage 1, 2, or 3 breast cancer diagnoses, researchers found that almost twice as many of those with Medicaid or no insurance were diagnosed with stage 3 disease than women who had other insurance. Black women were the likeliest to get diagnosed with advanced disease than women of other racial groups. All told, the researchers calculated that the type of insurance mediated nearly half of the differences observed among different racial groups. Although other factors, including genetics, could explain the differences, the authors suggest systemic change in how people are insured to eliminate some of the disparities.