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US breast cancer rate rising sharply even as deaths fall: study

US breast cancer rate rising sharply even as deaths fall: study

The findings highlighted that "longstanding systemic racism has translated to less access to quality care across the cancer continuum".
05 Oct, 2024

The biennial report by the American Cancer Society found the number of cases grew by one per cent each year from 2012 to 2021, even as the overall death rate continued its historic trend of decline, falling 44 per cent from 1989 to 2022.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed among US women, and the second leading cause of death from cancer, after lung cancer.

Approximately one-in-eight women in the US will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime and one-in-43, or 2pc, will die from the disease.

Over the past decade, the report said, breast cancer rates grew faster for women under the age of 50 than those older — 1.4pc annually versus 0.7pc annually — for reasons that aren’t immediately clear.

By race, Asian American women had the most rapid increase in incidence followed by Hispanic, which the paper said “may be related in part to the influx of new immigrants, who have elevated breast cancer risk.”

Overall, the breast cancer mortality rate fell 44pc from 33 deaths per 100,000 women in 1989 to 19 deaths per 100,000 in 2022, resulting in around 517,900 averted deaths.

But despite decades of medical advancements in treatment and earlier detection, the benefits have been felt unevenly.

Mortality has remained unchanged since 1990 among Native Americans, while Black women experience 38pc more deaths than white women despite 5pc lower cases.

The paper said these findings highlighted “disadvantages in social determinants of health” and “longstanding systemic racism and has translated to less access to quality care across the cancer continuum.”

For example, although Black women report getting mammograms more than White women, “they are more likely to have screening at lower resourced facilities and/or those that are not accredited by the American College of Radiology,” the study said.

The authors recommended increasing racial diversity in clinical trials as well as community partnerships that boost access to high-quality screening among underserved women.

In April, an influential US medical body recommended women should get screened for breast cancer every other year starting from the age of 40.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) had previously said that women in their 40s should make an individual decision about when to start mammograms based on their health history and reserved its mandatory recommendation for people turning 50.

Breast Cancer

Comments

Taj Ahmad Oct 05, 2024 06:55pm
I personally loved, respect all women’s around the world, they are our mother, sister, wife, daughter and sister in law.
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Laila Oct 05, 2024 11:48pm
Would it not be more relevant and informative with an article about breast cancer in Pakistan and it's statistics?
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Aaminah Oct 06, 2024 11:16am
What about Pakistan? Is the government prioritising latest targeted therapies to treat this Cancer? It seems only Chemotherapy is offered to women when there is more convenient therapies. KP govt has reportedly stopped buying breast cancer we were getting for free. Punjab doesn't even bother buying
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Oct 07, 2024 01:19pm
As the rate of U.S. women breast feeding goes down with each passing day, unfortunately, it's rate of breast cancer goes up.
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