'Human costs' of breast cancer among non-English speaking BME women.

This article describes a qualitative exploratory research study aimed at determining how non-English speaking black and minority ethnic (BME) women with breast cancer access information about cancer and healthcare services. The research, which is in its early stages of investigation, indicates that despite the fact that all patients find it difficult to access information about cancer, BME women face a number of difficult challenges. These include accessing appropriate information, as well as dealing with culturally specific (often negative) attitudes about breast cancer. A key finding in the research relates to uncertaintly, particularly about breast cancer, how to access information about the disease and how to access healthcare services.