A study published yesterday, Tuesday, showed that the number of breast cancer deaths has decreased in the United States despite the sharp increase in the incidence of this disease, especially in younger groups of women and among Americans of Asian descent.
The American Cancer Society revealed in its biennial report that the number of cases increased by 1% each year between 2012 and 2021, in light of a sharp decline in the death rate, which fell by 44% between 1989 and 2022.
Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer that affects American women and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States after lung cancer.
The report showed that the number of breast cancer cases increased more rapidly over the past decade among women under the age of 50 (1.4% annually) than among older women (0.7% annually) for reasons that are still unclear.
At the same time, Asian American women recorded the fastest increase in breast cancer rates, followed by Latinas, which the report suggested was “partly linked to the influx of new female immigrants who are at high risk of breast cancer.”
Overall, the death rate due to breast cancer decreased by 44% from 33 deaths per 100,000 women in 1989 to 19 deaths per 100,000 women in 2022, meaning 517,900 deaths were avoided.
Not all women have benefited equally from decades of medical advances in treatment and early detection.
The death rate has remained unchanged since 1990 among Native American women, while deaths among black women were 38% higher than those recorded among white women, despite a 5% decrease in the number of cases.
The report’s authors recommended increasing racial diversity in clinical trials, as well as partnerships that enhance poorer women’s access to quality screening.
Last April, an independent American public health organization recommended that women begin mammograms at age 40 instead of 50 and do so every two years.