Location Tied to Ovarian Cancer Survival in Black Women

PITTSBURGH - A new study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that women living in socially vulnerable communities face a 20% higher risk of death after an ovarian cancer diagnosis compared with women living in less vulnerable communities. The study, published today in J AMA Network Open , also discovered that Black women face a 45% higher risk of death than white women. When coupled, the findings suggest that neighborhood conditions may help explain persistent racial disparities in ovarian cancer survival. "We expected residential context to influence outcomes, but what surprised us was how much stronger the impact was for Black women," said Francesmary Modugno, Ph.D., M.S., MPH , professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Pitt and senior author of the study. "Our findings suggest that it's not simply where someone lives. The interaction between a woman's lived experience and her residential environment may be helping drive these persistent disparities," added Modugno who is part of The Women's Cancer Research Center (WCRC) is a collaboration between the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) .