Cancer researchers begin large, long-term study of black women
The American Cancer Society has launched an ambitious, far-reaching study focusing on a population that has long been overlooked, despite high rates of cancer and cancer-related deaths: Black women.The initiative, called VOICES of Black Women, is believed to be the first long-term, zero-target population study specifically on the factors that drive cancer prevalence and death among Black women.The researchers plan to enroll 100,000 cancer-free black women, ages 25 to 55, in Washington, D.C. and 20 states where the majority of black American women reside. Subjects will be interviewed twice a year about their behaviors, environmental exposures and life experiences, and followed for 30 years; any tumors they may develop will be monitored.Similar studies conducted in the past by the American...