CNN anchor Sara Sidner is undergoing a double mastectomy to battle breast cancer

CNN won’t have any famous faces for the subsequent few weeks as Sara Sidner continues her treatment for cancer.

On Tuesday, the “CNN News Central” morning anchor, who announced earlier this yr that she was undergoing treatment for stage III breast cancer, informed viewers that she was scheduled for a double mastectomy on Wednesday and would have day without work to get better. Deadline reported.

“Throughout my journey with cancer, I’ve learned that treating it is more like a marathon than a sprint,” Sidner said on the air. “After five months of chemotherapy, I have not yet gotten rid of the cancer. The next step is a double mastectomy.”

Referring to a 2016 study that showed a 10-year survival rate after bilateral mastectomy of 90.3%, she said, “I like the odds.”

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According to American Cancer Society, Black women within the US have a 4% lower incidence of breast cancer compared to white women, but are still more likely to die from the disease. For Black women, breast cancer is the leading reason behind cancer death as of 2019.

Economic, social, geographic, and lifestyle aspects may partially contribute to disparities in breast cancer rates and treatment outcomes amongst Black women.

Black women are less likely to breastfeed after giving birth and are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease and obesity – all of that are risk aspects for breast cancer, study finds Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Compared to white women, they’re more likely to have inadequate medical insurance or access to health care facilities, which may make it tougher to complete therapy, follow-up care, and screening.

Research continues to show that biology also influences breast cancer treatment outcomes. Black women are at higher risk of aggressive subtypes comparable to triple-negative breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer. They are often diagnosed at a younger age and at more advanced stages of the disease.

“Breast cancer doesn’t run in my family, and yet here I am with stage III breast cancer,” Sidner said when announcing her diagnosis in January CNN. “It’s hard to say it out loud.”

She told viewers on the time that she was undergoing chemotherapy and “will undergo radiation therapy and a double mastectomy. Stage III is no longer a death sentence for the vast majority of women,” Sidner said.

“But here’s the fact that basically shocked my system after I began doing more research on breast cancer that I had no idea about before this diagnosis: If you might be a black woman, you might be 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than your white counterparts “