A new report from the American Cancer Society finds that deaths from breast cancer in the United States continue to decline steadily. However, the decline has been faster for women who live in more affluent areas. Women from poor areas now have the highest rates of death from breast cancer.
"In general, progress in reducing breast cancer death rates is being seen across races/ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and across the U.S.," said Otis W. Brawley, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society. "However, not all women have benefitted equally. Poor women are now at greater risk for breast cancer death because of less access to screening and better treatments. This continued disparity is impeding real progress against breast cancer, and will require renewed efforts to ensure that all women have access to high-quality prevention, detection, and treatment services."
Breast cancer death rates have declined steadily since 1990. The drop has been larger among women under 50 (3.2% per year) than among women over 50 (2.0% per year).
An estimated 230,480 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2011, roughly 2,100 in iowa. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, after skin cancer. Breast cancer accounts for nearly 1 in 3 cancers diagnosed in women. Men can get breast cancer too, but it is much rarer and accounts for only 1% of breast cancer cases in the United States. An estimated 39,520 women are expected to die from the disease in 2011, 380 in Iowa.
In January 2008, the latest year for which statistics are available, approximately 2.6 million women living in the U.S. Had a history of breast cancer. More than half of them were diagnosed less than 10 years earlier. Most of them were cancer-free, while others still had evidence of cancer and may have been undergoing treatment.
White women get breast cancer at a higher rate than African-American women, but African-American women are more likely to get breast cancer before they are 40, and are more likely to die from it at any age. This is likely because the cancer is more advanced when it is found in African-American women, and because survival at every cancer stage is worse among African-American women. Incidence and death rates for breast cancer are lower among women of other racial and ethnic groups.
Poverty and a lack of health insurance are also associated with lower breast cancer survival. In 2008, 51.4% of poor women ages 40 and older had a screening mammogram in the past 2 years compared to 72.8% of women who were not poor. The presence of additional illnesses, unequal access to medical care, and disparities in treatment also likely contributed to differences in breast cancer survival.
Death rates were highest among women who lived in affluent areas until the early 1990s, but since that time rates have been higher among women in poorer areas because the decline in their death rates began later and was slower.
Breast cancer incidence and death rates generally increase with age. 95% of new cases and 97% of breast cancer deaths occurred in women 40 years old and older.
Obese breast cancer patients have about a 30% higher risk of death compared to those who maintain a healthy weight. Research also suggests that exercise during and after treatment improves outcomes.
Women with a family history of breast cancer, especially in a mother, sister, daughter, father or brother, are at increased risk of developing breast cancer.
To find breast cancer early, when treatments are more likely to be successful, the american cancer society recommends women 40 and older have a mammogram and clinical breast exam every year, and younger women have clinical breast exams periodically as well.
The American Cancer Society has spent more on breast cancer research than on any other cancer – having invested more than $450 million in breast cancer research grants since 1971. The majority of the society's basic cancer research projects also have a potential benefit for breast cancer. The society has played a part in many major breast cancer research breakthroughs in recent history.
The American Cancer Society also offers people facing breast cancer free services to overcome daily challenges, like transportation, lodging, guidance through every step of the cancer experience, and information to help them make decisions about their care.
For additional information about breast cancer, please call the American Cancer society at 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.
