The $1.58 million grant will support research by health communication scholars from the University of Tennessee (UT) Health Science Center School of Nursing and medical oncologists at the West Cancer Center Research Institute (WCCRI) to identify sociocultural and structural factors that are underlying causes of cancer health disparities among Black women in the Mid-South.
Dr. Jane Anderson
Assistant Professor Jane Anderson (PhD, MPH) is a social scientist and health communication scholar in the School of Nursing, working on how interpersonal factors impact the health outcomes of Black adults. “For the past seven years, my research has explored how interpersonal factors, specifically patient-clinician communication, impact the health outcomes of Black adults. In the South, we see delays in care, access issues, and unnecessary burdens at every stage of cancer care for Black women. I’m trying to understand why that is and what we can do to change that,” she says.
The study, “A Quantitative Prospective Examination of Multilevel Factors Influencing Outcome Disparities Among Black Women With or at High Risk for Breast Cancer in the South-Central United States,” is funded by Gilead Sciences, a Foster City, California-based biopharmaceutical company that also develops antiviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, influenza and COVID-19. Dr. Anderson serves as co-principal investigator on the three-year grant along with co-principal investigator Gregory Vidal, MD, PhD, PhD, director of clinical research and medical oncologist at West Cancer Center and Regional One Health. Dr. Vidal, a breast cancer expert, is also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Dr. Gregory Vidal
According to the 2022 Breast Cancer Statistics published by the American Cancer Society, black women have a 4% lower incidence of breast cancer than white women, but the mortality rate is still 40% higher. Southern states in the United States experience disproportionate cancer rates. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two mid-southern states, Arkansas and Mississippi, are among the top 10 states with the highest cancer rates in the country.
This qualitative study explores issues of healthcare access and engagement among Black women with or at high risk for metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer refers to breast cancer that has already spread to other parts of the body at the time of the initial cancer diagnosis. This study is based on the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and Critical Race Theory (CRT). SEM is a concept of health that includes intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, environmental, and public policy factors. The SEM framework supports the idea that behaviors affect and are influenced by different contexts. CRT suggests that race is a sociological rather than biological designation and that racism permeates society. Thus, Black women are exposed to prejudice and discrimination at the individual, relational, organizational/community, and societal levels, even if they are unaware of it.
There are three groups involved in the breast cancer study:
The first group of 75 will be adult Black women, including transgender men, with metastatic breast cancer. The second group of 75 will include women at high risk for breast cancer. The third group will include 100 clinicians who provide primary care, gynecologic, or oncology care in the Mid-South region (East Arkansas, West Tennessee, and North Mississippi). Clinicians who are Black, Indigenous, or Other People of Color (BIPOC) and/or who have a large number of Black adults in their practice will be included. Researchers will explore providers’ perceptions of what contributes to the vulnerability of Black women with the disease.
The study is scheduled to begin July 1. Potential volunteers will be recruited from WCCRI clinics in West Memphis, Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee, Germantown, Tennessee, Paris, Tennessee, and Corinth, Mississippi.
Anderson and Vidal are excited about the data the study will provide about factors that lead black women to delay seeking medical care or not adhere to their care plans after a breast cancer diagnosis. “If we can identify a unique set of factors, we can target those barriers, and that’s our best opportunity for intervention,” Anderson said. One way to intervene would be to provide specialized communication training to clinicians to help mitigate the challenges faced by black women with breast cancer, she said.
“This study will be the most comprehensive qualitative assessment of how social, economic and health factors affect cancer patients in the Mid-South,” said Dr. Vidal. “Given the similarities between Memphis and other cities, the results may be applicable beyond Memphis’ boundaries.”
