Push to get more Black women genetic screening for cancer

(Tashauna Reid, Amina Zafar/ CBC News) — Breast cancer tends to hit Black women at younger ages and be more aggressive, but they’re underrepresented when it comes to genetic screening, say doctors launching a new awareness campaign. 

The awareness campaign, announced Wednesday by Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, focuses on genetic screening for changes or mutations in two key genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, as well as others.  

Dr. Aisha Lofters, a family physician and researcher at the hospital, helped start the Take Action, Take Control initiative that is designed to empower Black women to learn more about genetic cancer testing.

Screening aims to catch a disease like breast cancer before it causes any problems that the patient notices, Lofters said. (…)