Posted on October 12th, 2022.

Two local alumni chapters of the historically Black Sigma Gamma Rho sorority are joining forces this month with a major local hospital to get more Black women and women of color up to date on their mammograms.

Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin's Clinical Cancer Center, 8800 W. Doyne Ave., will provide free mammograms this Saturday, Oct. 8, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for those who sign up. Appointments can be booked by calling 414-777-1900 (choose option one and ask for the Sigma Gamma Rho mammogram), and were still available as of Wednesday.

The group has a goal of providing 100 mammograms, starting with the health fair this weekend and continuing with scheduled appointments for women who can't make it. Registration will be open through the end of the month or until available space runs out.

Moya Baylis, the immediate past president of the Gamma Pi Sigma alumni chapter of the sorority, said she's seen many of her own sorority sisters battle breast cancer, which disproportionally affects Black women. Baylis' own chapter has five breast cancer survivors.

"We noticed that a lot of women of color were just not getting their mammograms, and the outreach for getting to them has just not been a focal point, we felt, in our community," Baylis said.

Outreach to Black women is particularly important because they are more likely to be diagnosed with particularly aggressive types of breast cancer, more likely to face delays in getting treatment, and are more likely to die from the disease than white women, according to data from the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Adrienne Cobb, a surgical oncologist with the Froedtert and MCW Clinical Cancer Network specializing in breast cancer, sees it as her personal mission as a Black physician to bring more breast cancer awareness to her community and other underserved populations.

"Interestingly enough, in Black women the incidence of breast cancer — how common it is — is actually less than white women. It's about 4% less," Cobb said. "However, Black women are about 40% more likely to actually die from breast cancer."

There are many reasons for this disparity, advocated and health experts say. Black women are more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and with more aggressive forms of breast cancer, Cobb said.

"We think that some of it has to do with differences in care, but we also can't ignore the fact that barriers to housing, jobs and the role and impact of structural racism play in the overall creation of disparities in all cancer care," Cobb said.

There are many reasons for this disparity, advocated and health experts say. Black women are more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and with more aggressive forms of breast cancer, Cobb said.

"We think that some of it has to do with differences in care, but we also can't ignore the fact that barriers to housing, jobs and the role and impact of structural racism play in the overall creation of disparities in all cancer care," Cobb said.

Black women are three times more likely that white women to be diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, according to Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance. They are also more likely to have denser breasts, which makes it more likely for them to get cancer and harder for mammograms to catch it, Touch notes.

American Cancer Society data shows the mammogram screening rate for Black women declined from a peak of 71% in 1999 to 65% in 2005. It's been relatively stable there since, according to the American Cancer Society.

Those who get mammograms through the sorority who have insurance will be billed according to their coverage (routine mammograms are covered in most cases), but those who do not have coverage or are underinsured will not be charged.

The hope is that the chance of getting the test done alongside members of their own community will also being some ease to the "fear of the unknown" that some Black women might have when it comes to getting checked out, Baylis said, and to remind people that getting diagnosed early can give them life-saving options.

"Sometimes, if I can see somebody that looks like me, then it's like, 'OK, that makes sense. Maybe I shouldn't be as fearful because I can see somebody — and they live right here — that has gone through it," she said.

Resources:

Women with an average risk of breast cancer can begin getting annual screenings starting at 40, Cobb said.

Those who are at high risk — because a first-degree relative was diagnosed and/or because they have certain genetic mutations — should be screened annually beginning ten years before the age at which their relative was diagnosed or at age 35, whichever comes first.

Talk to your doctor about what is best for you.

Call 414-777-1900 (choose option one and ask for the Sigma Gamma Rho mammogram), for a mammogram through the sorority event.

Find data on Black breast cancer and resources from Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance at https://touchbbca.org/ and learn more about clinical trials from their "When We Trial" initiative at https://www.whenwetrial.org/.

Source: Journal Sentinel