The CDC said African-American women are 40 percent more likely to die from the disease than any other racial or ethnic group.
Black women are diagnosed with breast cancer at lower rates than white women but still have higher death rates, experts pointed out.
One possible reason cited is that there is a lag for too many black women in receiving care once they've gotten a breast cancer diagnosis.
A CDC spokeswoman says only 69 percent of black women begin treatment within 30 days compared with 83 percent of white women.