Chicago Tribune

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 ...
Valletta Howard, a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed and treated early in the pandemic, is seen on March 11, 2024.

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

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune8 min read
True Public Cost Of Bears Stadium Would Be Billions More Over Time
In their effort to persuade politicians and the public that government support for a new domed stadium development on the city’s lakefront would be a sound investment, the Chicago Bears repeatedly tried to stress that taxpayers would not carry an ove
Chicago Tribune3 min readPoverty & Homelessness
Commentary: Multigenerational Households Are Key To Better Support For Kids Of Single Mothers
Decades of research show that on average, children who grow up with parents who are not married and living together have worse achievement and behavioral and well-being outcomes than children of two-parent homes. Despite this evidence, rates of nonma
Chicago Tribune3 min read
Review: Solo ‘Hamlet’ At Chicago Shakes Is From An Eddie Izzard Unwilling To Compromise
CHICAGO — Back in 2010, Eddie Izzard sold out the United Center in Chicago. The trailblazing British comedian told me at the time of a burning need to prove comics could fill arenas. I first wrote about Izzard in a solo show called “Dressed to Kill”

Related Books & Audiobooks