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Low-income women have poor access to breast cancer testing

Category: Breast

Not enough low-income women have access to breast cancer testing, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. The group calls for more resources to be directed toward this group to improve survival rates.

Over the past several years, the survivability of breast cancer has improved tremendously. Women diagnosed with the condition are living longer than ever. This is largely a product of early diagnoses and more effective treatments.

However, the report suggests that many of these improvements in care are not finding their way to low-income women. The authors state that while 72.8 percent higher socioeconomic status women get screened for breast cancer after their 40th birthday, that number is only 51.4 among less fortunate women.

"In general, progress in reducing breast cancer death rates is being seen across races/ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and across the U.S.," said Otis W. Brawley, lead author of the paper. "However, not all women have benefited equally. Poor women are now at greater risk for breast cancer death because of less access to screening and better treatments."