A L E R T
written by Leon Tulton
Last year an option on my New York State tax form made me rethink the issue of breast cancer. It stated that I had the option to donate part of my refund for breast cancer research and education. I admit that I was hesitant in responding. As a man, I thought that I couldn't relate to the issue. After all, men and women are built differently and I haven't had to buy a bra the last time I checked myself. Besides I needed all the money from my refund to help me pay my college tuition. However I began to think about the women in my life (grandmother, mother, and girlfriend) who are vulnerable to this dreaded disease after my girlfriend recently told me about her grandmother dying of breast cancer.
According to National Cancer Institute, breast cancer is the most common cancer in African-American women. Among women 30-54 and 55-69 years of age, African-American women have the highest age-adjusted mortality rates from breast cancer of any racial/ethnic group in the United States.
Although Caucasian women have a slightly higher incidence of breast cancer, African-American women have a higher incidence in their earlier years than Caucasian women. During a conference I attended last year, Mary S. Wolff, Ph.D., professor of Community and Preventative Medicine and director of the Division of Environmental Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, explained that the higher rate may be due to early menstruation in African-American girls. Dr. Wolff stated African-American girls began their menstruation a half year earlier than Caucasian girls. Menstruation is an indication that a girl's body is developing and the female hormone estrogen is active. Scientists presently speculate that there is a connection between estrogen and breast cancer. Since African-American girls develop faster than Caucasian girls, they're exposed earlier to estrogen and therefor more susceptible to breast cancer.
Diet may also be a contributing factor to the high incidence of breast cancer among African-American women. Dr. Wolff described a study focusing on the incidence of breast cancer in African-American and Hispanic women. Compared to Caucasian women, both groups have a higher rate of incidence. However, Hispanic women have a lower rate than African-American women. Dr. Wolff believes this is because the diet of Hispanic women has a higher phytoestrogen content (seven versus five servings) than the average African-American diet. Phytoestrogens are weak, estrogen-like chemicals found in plants that are thought to be the dietary factor that helps protect women from breast, ovarian and uterine cancer. According to Dr. Wolff, these chemicals could act as "anti-estrogens" because they compete for cell receptors normally used by the female hormone. Phytoestrogen is like a key broken off in a lock (cell receptor) that prevents another key (estrogen) from being inserted. Foods with a high phytoestrogen content include onions and cranberries. For instance, the mutagenic capacity (the factor that causes a mutation in genes and may increase a person's susceptibility to cancer) of cooked ground beef is greatly reduced when onion is added. African-American women tend to eat more fatty food, such as red meat, which has been linked to cancer. Wolff suggested that African-American women should eat a diet rich in phytoestrogen contents to decrease the incidence of breast cancer in their group. African-American women should eat more soy-based foods (such as tofu) and less red meat.
We never would have known any of this if it wasn't for funding and years of research. This new information could save millions of women's lives someday, especially African-American women like my grandmother, mother or girlfriend. They are the reason I decided to check the box on my tax refund form. Funding the continuous research of breast cancer may someday save the lives of our sisters.
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