Women are less likely to die of breast cancer than they were a decade ago, but not all women are benefiting from that trend.
White women saw more of a drop in death rates than black women — 1.9 percent a year from 2010 to 2014, compared to a 1.5 percent decrease for black women, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And while the death rates for women under 50 declined regardless of race, older black women are more likely to die of breast cancer than are white women.
That's especially troubling because 40 years ago, black women were less likely to get breast cancer. That's changed. Black women's breast cancer risk is now the same as that of white women's, and black women are 41 percent more likely to die of the disease.
There can be some good reasons for the rise in the number of black women being diagnosed with breast cancer, like more women getting screening mammograms. But there are bad reasons, too.