Many women who have breast cancer may not have a complete knowledge of their disease, such as the stage or grade of cancer then have. Minority women, such as black women and Hispanic women with breast cancer, are less likely than white women to have this information, according to a study.
This finding means that women with breast cancer may need more education about their condition, which could lead their being able to make more informed treatment decisions.
The study surveyed a group of 500 women in Northern California who had stage 0 through stage III breast cancer. The women were asked about their cancer, such as the stage, the grade, and characteristics of their tumor, such as estrogen receptor status and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status. Tumor receptor status is also called breast cancer subtype. Their answers to these questions were then checked against the California Cancer Registry data.
Overall, from 32% to 82% of the women said they knew each of the characteristics about which they were asked. But only 20% to 58% reported their characteristics correctly. Black and Hispanic women were often less likely than white women to know their cancer characteristics, even after accounting for socioeconomic status and health literacy. After accounting for health literacy and the women's level of education, some of the knowledge deficit went away for Hispanic women. However, health literacy had little impact on whether black women understood their breast cancer.
Having knowledge about your health condition or disease can help you take steps to maintain or improve your health. Previous studies have examined general cancer knowledge, but there has been no previous study that examined whether women actually know and understand the details about their own cancers.
The study was published in the journal Cancer.