Breast Cancer Death Gap Widens

Breast Cancer Death Gap Widens

In 1980, black women and white women in Chicago with breast cancer were equally likely to die.

Since then, death rates for white patients have improved dramatically. But that is not the case for their African-American counterparts, who are now dying at a rate 116 percent higher than whites, according to data released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force.

Moreover, the gap has widened. Last year, the group analyzed data through 2003 and found a 68 percent higher death rate for black women. The latest study, conducted by researchers at Sinai Urban Health Institute, looked at vital records through 2005, obtained from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Watch a CBS 2 report on the disparity:

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