Central Commonwealth Black Caucus Encourages Black Women to Enroll in Cancer Study
The VOICES of Black Women study seeks to understand challenges and improve outcomes for this population.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
The Central Commonwealth Black Caucus has partnered with the American Cancer Society to encourage local Black women to enroll in a groundbreaking study.
The VOICES of Black Women study, led by the American Cancer Society, seeks to better understand the specific experiences and health challenges faced by Black women—a group that has consistently been under-represented in medical research.
According to an article published last year in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the American Cancer Society’s journal, “Black people … have a disproportionate cancer burden, including the lowest survival of any racial or ethnic group for most cancers.”
Black women have a 10% higher mortality rate from cancer than white women, despite a 9% lower incidence of cancer.
Black women are 38% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, despite being 5% less likely to be diagnosed.
Incidents of uterine cancer and mortality from uterine cancer are increasing in Black women by 2% ever year, and death rates from uterine cancer are “2-fold those of women in every other racial and ethnic group,” the article states.
The VOICES study seeks to improve these outcomes by enrolling 100,000 women in what is set to be “the largest behavioral and environmental focused population study of cancer risk” in Black women.
Women who live in the U.S., are between the ages of 25 and 55 years of age, and have never been diagnosed with cancer are eligible to participate in the study. Enrolled participants will answer “behavioral, environmental, and lived experience questions” through periodic short secure online surveys. No lifestyle changes are required, and no medication, testing, or treatment are included in the study.
The Central Commonwealth Black Caucus is helping to recruit study participants as part of its mission to “ advance the well-being of Black residents across the Central Commonwealth and ensure that lifesaving public health initiatives reach the populations most affected,” the caucus wrote in a press release.
“All Virginians deserve access to the highest quality health care. Yet too often, Black Virginians disproportionately experience gaps in care that intensify the impact of diseases such as breast cancer,” said Shellie Bowman, chief executive officer, in the press release. “Addressing these disparities is not optional. It is a matter of equity, justice, and public responsibility.”
The VOICE study’s principal investigators, doctors Alpa Patel and Lauren McCullough, are excited to have the participation of the caucus.
“Weʼre excited that the Central Commonwealth Black Caucus is joining us in this effort, and we value the trust theyʼve put in us to work alongside them to improve health outcomes,” said McCullough in the press release. “We hope that this collaboration encourages more Black women to join us—not just to share data, but to help drive meaningful change from within our communities.”
Patel said the study is “a crucial step towards achieving health equity in a population that is long overdue.”
For more information about the VOICES of Black Women study and how to participate, visit the study’s website.
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