Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer, with over 55,000 diagnoses made each year in the UK alone.

While 78% of diagnosed patients survive the disease each year, over 11,000 people die from it– but 23% of these are preventable cases. Early diagnosis has been proven to result in higher success rates, as more than 90% of women diagnosed at the earliest stage survive their disease for at least five years. That is in comparison to around 15% of women diagnosed with the most advanced stage of disease.

Taking a closer look at women’s race when it comes to breast cancer, the statistics are even more alarming.

UK research found that breast cancer is more likely to reoccur in black women than white women. And, over in America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mortality rates in black women are 39% higher than for white women. The centre also said that breast cancer was more likely to be found at an earlier stage among white women than among black women.

Breast cancer survival rates: New technology could eliminate racial disparity