Unlocking secrets to better outcomes

Olúwatóyìn Ajíbọ́lá Aṣojò, PHD

The American Cancer Society (ACS) wants to hear Black women’s voices. ACS launched a groundbreaking population cohort study — VOICES of Black Women — underscoring ACS’s commitment to better understand why Black women are impacted by cancer disparately.

VOICES of Black Women is designed to clarify the multilevel drivers of incidence, morbidity and mortality of cancer and other health conditions among Black women in the United States, so we can learn how to collectively address them.

Black women have historically been underrepresented in research, and VOICES directly engages Black women. VOICES is recruiting Black women ages 20 to 60 who have not been diagnosed with cancer (except basal or squamous skin cancer) and who live in the United States.

With a goal to recruit 100,000 Black women, VOICES will be the largest cohort-based study of cancer risk and outcomes among Black women in the United States.

Black women have a 38% higher mortality risk from breast cancer, are 12% more likely to die from cancer, and are twice as likely to die from uterine cancer as white women.

Enrollees will provide informed consent and answer questions about behavioral, environmental and lived experience through periodic short surveys delivered via a secure online portal. No medication, clinical testing, treatment or lifestyle changes are part of the VOICES of Black Women study.

As a 15-year breast cancer survivor, I cannot participate in this study, so I’m using my voice to make a difference. As a cancer researcher, VOICES ambassador and Black woman, I encourage eligible Black women to participate in the VOICES of Black Women study so we may collect vitally needed data. VOICES will be transformative in clarifying why Black women have some of the highest death rates and shortest survival rates in the U.S. for many cancers.

Black women have a 38% higher mortality risk from breast cancer, are 12% more likely to die from cancer and are twice as likely to die from uterine cancer as white women.

VOICES will also inform advocacy efforts to initiate, support or expand evidence-based health policies to improve Black women’s health for generations.

For more than a century, the American Cancer Society has been dedicated to pursuing better outcomes for every cancer, every life. Today, more people are surviving cancer than ever before, but there is still work to be done. The American Cancer Society has conducted some of the world’s largest and most impactful cohort studies to better understand how cancer develops in a population. American Cancer Society cohort studies also identify cancer risk factors and how to improve both outcomes and survivorship. Notable groundbreaking discoveries in cancer science from American Cancer Society population studies include linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer, linking obesity to risk of early death and linking regular aspirin use to lower risk of colorectal cancer, among many others.

Having worked for numerous world-class universities and medical schools from Nebraska to Texas and New Hampshire, I know the importance of representation in research. VOICES provides a unique opportunity for Black women to be represented in cancer research and aligns with my advocacy efforts as the associate director for Inclusive Excellence at the Dartmouth Cancer Center.

You can use your voice to support this groundbreaking study to help Black women detect cancer earlier and improve survival rates. To learn more, visit voices.cancer.org. Those interested in learning about the study or becoming a VOICES ambassador should contact Amy Deavitt at amy.deavitt@cancer.org.