Breast cancer test may make bad chemotherapy recommendations for Black patients, study shows
CHICAGO -- While the rest of the world was in the throes of the pandemic, Valletta Howard was wrapping her mind around a breast cancer diagnosis.
After finding a lump in her left breast in April 2021, she confirmed it with a mammogram and ultrasound in May 2021. It was invasive ductal carcinoma, grade 2, she recalled. Two weeks later, Howard underwent outpatient surgery to have it removed. She was optimistic that she wouldn’t have to endure chemotherapy or radiation. But the medical professionals sent the tissue sample out for testing, and chemotherapy and radiation became a reality.
“It was a big shock. I was not ready for that due to the fact in October 2020, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. So from October 2020 up until May, when I found out I had breast cancer, I was helping her go through her treatment,” Howard said. “(Initially) she was happy that I
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