A new report from the American Cancer Society indicates a decline in breast cancer death rates in the United States. Although this is a relief, the report also warns that the incidence of breast cancer among younger women is on the rise, and disparities among different racial groups persist.
According to the report, breast cancer rates increased by 1% annually from 2012 to 2021, with sharper rises among women under the age of 50 (1.4%). However, the death rate from breast cancer has declined by 44% over the past three decades.
"If we look at the last decade or so, we've seen breast cancer incidence rise at about a 1% year-over-year increase, and the steepness of that increase does not affect all women in this case equally," said Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
"There is a slightly higher increase in the rate of breast cancer diagnosis for women who are under age 50 versus those that are above age 50. These are things that we are watching to try to understand," Knudsen said.
Researchers analyzed breast cancer incidence and mortality data from the National Cancer Institute and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spanning back to 1975. Their findings revealed notable disparities based on race, age, and state.
The study noted that Black women are more likely to succumb to the disease, with a 38% higher death rate than White women, even though they are 5% less likely to develop breast cancer in the first place.
"If you look actually more carefully at the mortality data, this is really driven by young women particularly. If you look at Black women between the ages of 20 and 29, their chances of dying from breast cancer is two times greater than their White colleague," Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, told ABC News.
Black women have the highest mortality rate, with approximately 27 deaths per 100,000 women, while the mortality rate of breast cancer among Asian American and Pacific Islander communities was about 12 deaths per 100,000. However, Asian and Pacific Islander communities had the fastest annual increase in breast cancer incidence, 2.7% for those under 50 and 2.5% for women aged 50 and older.
The researchers also found certain striking geographic disparities in breast cancer statistics. The incidence of the disease varied significantly, with Nevada reporting 113 cases per 100,000 women, while North Carolina had a much higher rate of approximately 143 cases per 100,000. The death rate from breast cancer also differed by region, with Massachusetts showing about 15 deaths per 100,000 women, compared to Mississippi, which had a rate of about 23, and the District of Columbia, where the rate reached 24 per 100,000.
