By Deborah Bailey
AFRO Contributing Editor
Laurene Scott, like many women, didn’t follow through on scheduling or showing up for mammogram appointments during the Covid-19 pandemic. That in itself was not unusual. Many Americans delayed required health screenings during the pandemic.
But Scott never returned for breast cancer screenings after missing her 2021 mammogram. Even when the pandemic ended. Even though she works in the healthcare industry. And even though she is a faithful Seventh-day Adventist, a faith community known for health-focused practices. Scott was a routine “ghoster.”
“Yes, I received notices each year to schedule my mammogram,” said the healthcare manager. “But I just didn’t go through with it. I knew I needed to, especially with my family history, but I couldn’t go through with it. I was busy with life and put it out of my mind,” said Scott, who moved to downtown Washington and got married within the last three years.
Given a family history of breast cancer, Laurene didn’t need anyone to tell her the importance of breast imaging. She was better informed than many. “Yes, self-breast exams are helpful and necessary, but by the time you find a lump on your own, often it has already progressed past what breast imaging can identify,” said Scott.
Overall cancer rates decreasing but Black women still bear the brunt
Although overall deaths from breast cancer have decreased in the United States, the incidence of breast cancer has risen, according to an October 2025 report by the American Cancer Society. Moreover, the Black-White gap in the percentage of women diagnosed with breast cancer stubbornly persists, based on data from the report.
The overall death rate for breast cancer has dropped 44 percent from 1989 to 2022. But that’s where the victory lap ends for Black women, said Dr. Shana O. Ntiri, family medicine physician with the University of Maryland Medical System and assistant professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Family and Community Medicine. Ntiri echoed what is etched in the literature – Black women are 38 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than White women.
Ntiri is familiar with the phenomena of “ghosting” or failing to schedule and show up for mammograms and additional breast cancer imaging. “Women who receive care in my practice know they are going to get a call from me to schedule their annual mammogram. It’s critical for that partnership to exist between a family practitioner and cancer specialists,” Ntiri said.
“Women and especially Black women are busy taking care of work, home, family and are often involved in their communities. We often take care of ourselves last. Sometimes women have anxiety about everything involved with breast screening from the equipment, the technicians, the entire process,” she said of the possible reasons for women not showing up for appointments. “My patients know I will go with them to a screening if needed. I work with several community-based organizations that will also accompany you to that breast screening to hold your hand and talk you through it.”
A September 2025 study done by Massachusetts General Hospital radiologist Dr. Randy C. Miles concludes that lower levels of assessment or breast imaging and screening is one of the factors accounting for Black women’s higher rate of breast cancer diagnosis at later stages, in comparison to other women in the United States.
A melancholy ending
Scott finally scheduled and kept her mammogram appointment in mid-October.
“I was so proud of myself for finally doing it. The process went more smoothly than I imagined,” she said. But the results still left her a bit anxious. “I got a letter saying I had dense breasts, and the exam didn’t detect anything. At the same time, because I have dense breasts, they couldn’t rule out a problem either.”
According to the National Cancer Institute, a mammogram may be more likely to miss detecting cancers in women with dense breasts.
Scott said she bears a small but lingering uneasiness over the ambiguous report.
Dr. Kristen C Whitaker, a board certified medical oncologist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, said she understands Laurene’s caution but assured her and the 5-10 percent of women who have an inconclusive result after an initial mammogram.
“What we oftentimes find on follow-up imaging and biopsies are normal breast tissue, benign (non-cancerous) breast findings, such as cysts, papillomas, etc. Other times, we find benign findings that are high risk lesions that are not cancer but can increase risk of developing breast cancer. Knowing about these lesions are important because there are interventions that can be recommended to lower the risk of subsequent breast cancer development.”
Scott is one Washington, D.C., woman who finally went for her mammogram just in time. Sadly, her cousin recently received a breast cancer diagnosis. “She’s younger than me, kept her appointments and dense breasts were masking her cancer,” Scott said.
The D.C. professional is now one of the many thousands of Black women who will be “busy taking care of family,” as Dr. Ntiri described. But from now on, she knows to “just keep the appointment” regarding her own breast health.