US doctors are warning about the rise of another form of cancer in young people: breast cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) has just released its Breast Cancer Statistics 2024, highlighting breast cancer occurrence and trends. Per their findings, rates of breast cancer among women younger than 50 are becoming more common despite the huge leaps in breast cancer treatment over the last couple of decades. Also read | Why breast cancer relapses after treatment: Reasons and tips to stay cautious
What did the study find?
The new report shows that breast cancer mortality has decreased by 44 percent since the late 1980s. This progress is the result of advances in treatment and earlier detection through screening.
Per the report, there is a continued upward trend in breast cancer incidence, rising by 1 percent annually during 2012-2021, with the steepest increase in women younger than 50 years (1.4 percent per year) and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) women of any age (2.5-2.7 percent per year).
Cancer interventions not disseminated equally
The US report showed differences among groups highlighting disadvantages in social determinants of health – it highlighted a stark racial disparity that has persisted for decades.
Black women are still more likely to die of any type of breast cancer than white women. Black women continue to have a 38 percent higher breast cancer mortality rate than white women, despite a 5 percent lower incidence.
Among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women under 50, breast cancer diagnoses have increased by 50 percent since 2000. Breast cancer rates in AAPI women younger than 50 are now higher than those in Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native women of the same age group. In 2000, AAPI women under 50 had the second-lowest rates of breast cancer.
‘Alarming disparities still remain’
“The encouraging news is breast cancer mortality rates continue to decrease thanks to advances in early detection and treatment,” said Angela Giaquinto, associate scientist, cancer surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the study was quoted as saying by cancer.org. “But future progress may be thwarted by increasing incidence, especially among younger women, and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as delayed diagnosis due to interruptions in screening.”
“Women today are a lot less likely to die from breast cancer, but alarming disparities still remain, especially for Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American and Black women,” said Dr William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society. “These gaps need to be rectified through systematic efforts to ensure access to high-quality screening and treatment for every woman.”
