Breast Cancer Awareness Month: African American Women More Likely to Die from the Disease

October is Breast Awareness Month and the African-American community is particularly affected by the disease as it's usually detected much later than in Caucasian women, causing them to have a higher death rate. 

 According to the American Cancer Society, African-American women are 41 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. This is largely because Caucasian women have a higher earlier detection rate than black women. Once the disease is found in an African-American women, it is oftentimes too late to stop the disease in its tracks.

, white women are diagnosed with breast cancer at a higher rate than black women. The organization estimates breast cancer will claim the lives of more than 6,000 black women this year alone.

Singer Beyonce showed her support for the Breast Cancer Awareness month by sharing a photo on Instagram of herself painting her pinky pink. The shade, Pinkie Pink, is available from Sephora.com for $9.50. One dollar from the sale of each bottle will be donated towards the fight against breast cancer as part of the Nails Inc. Paint Your Pinkie Pink campaign.

For the African-American community, there is growing awareness of the disease. In Memphis, breast cancer mortality among black women seems to be a bigger issue than in other cities. A study conducted by Sinai Urban Health Institute in Chicago examined racial disparity in breast cancer mortality rates within the 25 largest cities in the country, and Memphis topped the list. Black women in Memphis are more than twice as likely to die from breast cancer as their white counterparts, according to the study.