Higher risk of breast cancer in segregated white communities

May 30 (UPI) -- A recent study found that women living in segregated white communities are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer.

Researchers at Georgia State University's School of Public Health analyzed more than 970,000 new breast cancer cases from 40 U.S. states from 2004 to 2009 and found a link between a higher risk of developing late-stage breast cancer in women living in segregated white communities.

Conversely, researchers found a link between a lower risk of late-stage breast cancer diagnosis women living in highly segregated Asian communities.

The lower rates of breast cancer in highly-segregated Asian communities like the Bay Area in Northern California and New York City is not surprising "because Asians have lower likelihood of late-stage breast cancer diagnosis compared to whites," the researchers said.

The study "suggest there may be a widespread problem in highly isolated white communities, which are perhaps an understudied 'reverse disparity' bearing further thought and future investigation," the researchers said, in a press release.

Researchers also did not find an increased risk of late-stage breast cancer diagnosis black and Hispanic women from highly segregated areas.

The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.