Breast cancer screening bra to level health outcomes for Black women
McCann Toronto has created a customized screening bra designed for pigmented skin to help close the gap in breast cancer survival rates between Black and white women.
Late detection is one of the reasons why Black women have a 40% higher death rate than their white peers, prompting underwear retailer Love & Nudes, in partnership with McCann Toronto, to create the Stage Zero Collection to help women of color recognize symptoms earlier.
The bra insert capsule collection enables the wearer to touch, see and feel the telltale swelling that can indicate the presence of inflammatory breast cancer, giving a hands-on demonstration of how to detect a lump.
Love & Nudes founder Chantal Carter explained: “Breast cancer diagnostic and educational tools are generally designed with only white skin in mind. All the examination guides report redness as a sign of breast cancer. Unfortunately, discoloration doesn’t look the same on darker skin tones like mine.”
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Dr. Mojola Omole, the surgical oncologist and chief medical officer on the design project, adds: “Black women under 50 with breast cancer have a mortality rate double that of white women in the same age group. Because Black women are predisposed to early-onset triple-negative breast cancer, it’s clear that it’s time to change the guidelines on the breast cancer screening age for cancer.”
Breaking new ground scientifically the customized inserts include 3D-printed attachments cast to imitate how a lump would feel in real-life, a painstaking process that consumed many trials and over 18 months of production. For the finishing touch, a make-up artist was employed to reflect the ruby/brown changes to skin color, in contrast to the reddening experienced by white women.
As part of the campaign, a petition has been launched to lower the breast cancer screening age to 40, from age 50 in most Canadian provinces, in response to the earlier onset of the disease among Black women.