(Paige Neal-Holder, Khadra Salad/ BBC News) — Researchers in the US have found a genetic link between people with African ancestry and an aggressive type of breast cancer. They hope their findings will encourage more black people to get involved in clinical trials in a bid to improve survival rates for people with the disease.
“I never thought I had anything to worry about,” says Laverne Fauntleroy, a 53-year-old African American from New York.
Laverne led a healthy lifestyle.
She ate well and exercised regularly but in January, not long before her birthday, she received a diagnosis that left her feeling confused and afraid.
“They just told me I had breast cancer,” she says.
“Most people that I know that had cancer didn’t survive so, of course, I was devastated and very scared.” (…)