Fighting breast cancer inequities in Sacramento’s Black community | Opinion

I was driving with my kids, then 18, 11 and 10 years old, when I got the call: You have breast cancer. I was just 39. I hadn’t even reached the age when breast cancer screenings are recommended. No one in my family had breast cancer — or so I thought.

That day, my life changed. But what shook me just as much was what came next: Silence. No road map, no next steps, no sense of urgency from my doctor. I didn’t ask, “Am I going to die?” I asked, “What’s your plan to help me live?” That distinction and mindset is what carried me. It’s what fuels me now as I fight to ensure that other Black women can ask the same question and get an answer they can trust.

Thankfully, I found an exceptional surgeon, began treatment and was invited to participate in a clinical trial comparing chemotherapy regimens. I asked my oncologist, “How are Black women responding to this treatment?” He said, “I don’t know.”

That answer wasn’t just disappointing, it was unacceptable.

Black women are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. And while advances in treatment that significantly reduce breast cancer’s ability to take lives are within reach, it’s clear these breakthroughs haven’t been created to benefit all groups equally. Only 5% to 7% of research participants are Black individuals, even though we make up 14% of the U.S. population. If the research doesn’t reflect us, how can we trust the treatment to save us?

Our community is scared, and with good reason. We’ve never truly been included in the health care system — not in the ways that matter most. We’ve been overlooked in research, ignored in exam rooms and forced to navigate a system not built for us.

Here in Sacramento County, these inequities hit close to home. Black residents here face about 416 cases of cancer for every 100,000 people. That’s slightly higher than the state average of 411. This shows that where you live and who you are can impact your health.

We need to do better for Sacramento’s Black community.

In the health care context, the “Strong Black Woman” stereotype can manifest in health providers’ failure to treat Black women patients fairly and take their concerns seriously, very much like what I faced when I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Black Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival for most cancers, including breast, colorectal, prostate, lung and stomach cancers. Sacramento is no exception. If we’re going to save lives, we must catch cancer early and we must ensure early detection is accessible to the communities most at risk.

Here’s where hope meets science: New multi-cancer early detection tests could revolutionize how we find cancer, especially deadly cancers that disproportionately affect Black communities and currently have no routine screening. These tests utilize the latest scientific advancements to identify cancer signals in a patient’s blood stream.

They can pinpoint many different types of cancer from a simple blood draw, dramatically improving doctors’ ability to detect cancers early, at stages where they are most treatable.

But innovation is not equity, unless we make it so.

That’s why I support House Resolution 842, the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, named for a civil rights legend and health justice champion. This bipartisan bill would give Medicare the ability to cover these groundbreaking tests once they’re FDA-approved.

Today, routine screenings exist for just five types of cancer out of more than 100. That means far too many cancers are caught too late, when they’ve already spread and even the most advanced treatments are less effective.

This bill, led by California Congressman Raul Ruiz, is a necessary step toward ensuring that when science moves forward, our communities don’t get left behind. Over half of the House of Representatives and Senate, including Sacramento Reps. Doris Matsui and Ami Bera, already support this critical legislation. Passing this bill will directly impact Medicare beneficiaries in Sacramento, giving more of our local older adults access to cutting-edge early detection tools.

With strong bipartisan backing and clear momentum, there’s no reason it shouldn’t pass this year. When a majority of lawmakers come together on commonsense legislation, action must follow.