A screening tool used to evaluate the need for endometrial cancer biopsies in women frequently misses the signs of this cancer in Black women, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology.
Dr. Kemi Doll, the lead author on the publication and adjunct associate professor with the UW Department of Health Systems and Population Health (HSPop), says that the results of the study suggest that the current non-invasive option of transvaginal ultrasound to determine the appropriateness of a biopsy is not sufficiently accurate or racially equitable with regards to Black women.
“Black women have an over 90% higher mortality rate after diagnosis of endometrial cancer when compared with white women in the U.S.,” Doll said. “This is a longstanding disparity that we have yet to make meaningful progress to address. Although we have focused before on evaluating access to healthcare, in this study we sought to evaluate the guidelines themselves.”