JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to an end, First Coast News is highlighting disturbing facts concerning Black women and cancer outcomes.
Black women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast, lung and colorectal cancer at a late stage compared to other racial groups, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Good Morning Jacksonville anchor Keitha Nelson spoke with health experts and scientific researchers to find out what's behind these deadly outcomes.
Thousands of people watched Jessica Florence’s journey on social media. From diagnosis to being cured, recurrence and ultimately her death. Florence is among the staggering number of Black women diagnosed with breast cancer at a late stage.
"I'm done, oh my gosh, I'm done,” Florence shouted in an Instagram post from Sept. 13, 2021. “This is my third time; I'm not doing this again!"
She would go on to do it again. For eight years, Florence battled a disease that traveled throughout her body. Diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2015, at just 22 years old, she'd overcome it. But the disease later returned, not only as Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, but as cancer of the brain.
Florence endured brain surgery and documented her fight on social media.
“I knew something wasn't right,” Florence said in an Instagram post on Jan. 2, 2020. “I went to the emergency room.”
Still, she managed to graduate from college that year. By 2022, the cancer spread, and was found in Florence’s spine this time.
She battled a vicious cycle of chemo and radiation, with support from near and far.
In August 2023, Florence entered hospice care and 12 days later, she died at the age of 30.
“She knew that she was nearing the end,” Derrick Florence, Jessica’s dad said while standing in her room, a space still intact with photos on the wall of his tiny framed, mighty warrior.
"I needed to be heard, I just needed someone to listen,” Jessica said in an Instagram post. “I went to three different physicians before I was initially diagnosed. And they all told me 'you're too young to have breast cancer.' "
This type of misinformation is far too common, Jessica's dad told First Coast News.
“This was the second physician here in Jacksonville that told Jessica, 'hey you know it looks like you have fibroids,'” Derrick Florence said. “But the way they were progressing and growing it was an aggressive situation.”
According to the American Cancer Society, Black women under the age of 50 are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but twice as likely to die from the disease.
"The cancer is so aggressive when she finally got diagnosed it was Stage 3A,” Derrick Florence said. “I feel like if it was caught earlier, she would have had more life, because she wouldn't have had to been treated so aggressively.”
Black women are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. Researchers are working to figure out exactly why.
"All of this could have been prevented if you'd just listened," Jessica Florence said in her social media post.
Her voice was heard by the thousands of followers who intently viewed her documented fight.
"She accepted this as a badge of honor, ‘this is my mission, to advocate for others, so they don't get left behind like myself,’" Derrick Florence said while reflecting on his daughter’s mission while fighting cancer.
Jessica Florence's story is not an isolated case.
Experiences such as hers have prompted a massive study by the American Cancer Society called VOICES of Black Women. Its mission is to improve the health of Black women for generations to come. The ACS is calling on Black women from all walks of life to join the study which they call a collective commitment to understanding and improving the health of Black women across the nation.
To find out if you are eligible to participate in the VOICES study visit voices.cancer.org.