Two Groups Make Breast Cancer a Priority

To help educate and draw attention to TNBC, organizations are mobilizing to empower patients who lack equitable access to care.

Tiffany Clifton-Reed, 50, lives in Philadelphia and was diagnosed with TNBC in 2020. Through her insurance company, she learned about Unite for HER: a national nonprofit program created to "Help Empower and Restore" ovarian and breast cancer patients, including Black women living with TNBC.

Launched in 2009, this program received funding in 2022 from Gilead, a research-based pharmaceutical company. Through Unite for HER’s Wellness Programs, eligible women, men, and nonbinary individuals can receive $2,000 in services, including integrative therapies involving nutrition, exercise, meditation, yoga, and counseling.

“I received a care package from them that blew me away,” says Clifton-Reed, who is an authorization coordinator at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of Unite for HER’s Women of Color Task Force. “They sent a cookbook and healing salve, but the best thing has been the cooking classes and speaker series with doctors sharing information on breast and ovarian cancer side effects and new research. This empowers me!”

In Mississippi, Tougaloo College partnered with the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) Cancer Research Institute and Delta Health to launch the Assessment Toward Health Equity for Black People Impacted by Triple-Negative Breast Cancer program. The goal of this program is to assess more than 200 women throughout the state of Mississippi (and especially in the Delta region of the state) who either have TNBC or are at risk for TNBC. This program has also provided grants for a number of cancer organizations, like Unite for HER, that are dedicated to supporting underrepresented communities affected by TNBC.

“There are so many people who know about breast cancer, but they don’t know there are subtypes and that some of these subtypes impact Black women more,” says Diva Whalen, an assistant professor of biology and a pre-health adviser at Tougaloo College, who leads the assessment. “Our goal is to reach out to the community as a whole and educate those who look like me — we're serving those that have grandmas, aunts, even uncles that could be impacted by TNBC.”

Access to care in Mississippi is complex, Whalen says.

“We’re in a difficult situation here,” she says. “Our cancer center is in Jackson. That’s three hours from the north, three hours from the south, and two-and-a-half hours from east or west. It’s difficult if you don’t have the time to travel to get diagnosed. Or, if you have been diagnosed, what does treatment look like to you if you have to travel to get it?”

For Clifton-Reed, breast cancer screening was routine. She’d been receiving mammograms since she was 39 years old because her paternal grandmother had breast cancer when she was young. Despite this, finding out she had stage 1B TNBC three days before her 48th birthday changed her perspective and inspired her to help others.

“While I was shocked when I found out it was TNBC, I’ve since learned that this diagnosis doesn’t mean it has to be a death sentence,” she says. “There’s so much research out there being done on TNBC.”

Clifton-Reed encourages Black women to join TNBC support groups and always ask about available clinical trials.

“That’s something that’s not really discussed,” she says. “It’s a misconception that because we’re Black we don’t want to participate. We all understand the past, but it’s very important for Black women to find out what’s available to them.”

Ultimately, Whalen says grassroots efforts are an essential way to fill the void for populations that don’t have equitable access to care.

“We know that in areas where there are a large number of Black women, they’re not receiving the same healthcare,” she says. “We have to improve that, whether this means making sure we have mammogram mobile vans out there to make contact or by having educational pieces available. If everyone is playing on the same playing field, we will see advancements in health outcomes.”

The Takeaway

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) rates are disproportionately higher among Black women. Organizations, such as Unite for HER and Toward Health Equity for Black People Impacted by Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, are dedicated to closing this cancer gap. By increasing access to education, resources, and support, these programs are working to improve care in underrepresented communities.