TUESDAY, Oct. 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Although women overall are less likely to die from breast cancer now, some alarming disparities remain, a new analysis from the American Cancer Society warns. ACS).
Death rates for American Indian and Alaska Native women have not changed in the past 30 years, according to the new report. And the incidence of breast cancer continues to grow, increasing by 1 percent per year between 2012 and 2021. The largest increases were among women under 50 (1.4% per year) and Asian-American women. Americans/Pacific Islanders of any age (2.5%-2.7% per year).
“These gaps must be rectified through systematic efforts to ensure access to high-quality screening and treatment for all women,” said Dr. William Dahut, ACS chief scientific officer.
Overall, breast cancer death rates have dropped by 44 percent since 1989, saving about 517,900 lives since then, the ACS estimates.
However, breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in Hispanic women and is second only to skin cancer among all American women.
The findings are published in Breast Cancer Statistics 2024, the cancer society’s biennial update on breast cancer trends in the U.S. They were published in the Oct. 1 issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
“The encouraging news is that rates [de mortalidad] of breast cancer continue to decline, thanks to advances in early detection and treatment,” said the study’s lead author, Angela Giaquinto, an ACS associate scientist.
“But future progress could be thwarted by rising incidence, particularly among younger women, and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as delayed diagnosis due to disruptions in screening.” , he added in an ACS news release.
Researchers project that 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year and that 42,250 women will die from the disease.
They also project that 2,790 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 530 will die.
Other conclusions:
In women under age 50, breast cancer has increased 50% since 2000 among Asian American/Pacific Islander women. This group shares the highest rate with white women (both at 86 per 100,000).
Although American Indian and Alaska Native women have a 10% lower incidence of breast cancer than white women, their mortality rate is 6% higher. Only 51 percent of those age 40 and older had a mammogram in the past two years, compared to 68 percent of white women.
Compared to white women, black women have a 38% higher mortality rate. However, their incidence rate is 5% lower than their white counterparts. Black women have lower survival than white women for all subtypes and stages of breast cancer except early-stage (localized) disease.
Black women are 10 percent less likely than white women to be diagnosed with localized disease (58 vs. 68 percent).
“Build on the progress we have made in reducing rates [de mortalidad] for breast cancer requires ensuring that more individuals have access to cancer screening,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Action Network.
He called on Congress to pass the Screening for Communities to Receive Needed Early and Equitable Services (SCREENS) Act for cancer. It would reauthorize a national program for the early detection of breast and cervical cancer and expand its reach to more people who would not otherwise be tested.
More information
The VOICES of Black Women study is enrolling women ages 25 to 55 to learn more about cancer risk and outcomes.
SOURCE: American Cancer Society, press release, September 30, 2024
