Breast Cancer Rates Climb Among the Young

American Cancer Society report describes steady increase in diagnoses
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 2, 2024 4:23 PM CDT
On the Upward Trend: Breast Cancer Before 50
Mammographer Alma Garcia, right, demonstrates the process of a mammogram on marketing liaison Dalilah Garcia of the Neighbors Emergency Center in Brownsville, Texas, on Monday, Sep. 18, 2017, inside a Mammos on the Move (MOM) mobile mammogram trailer.   (Migiuel Roberts/TheBrownsville Herald via AP, File)

Overall death rates from breast cancer have fallen 44% over the last 35 years and by about 10% over the last decade. That's the good news. The bad news is that for American Indian and Alaska Native women, rates haven't changed at all. Meanwhile, diagnoses are climbing in women of all ages, but especially in women under 50, per the New York Times. Breast cancer rates climbed 1% annually from 2012 to 2021, but 1.4% among women under 50, compared to 0.7% among older women, and 2.2% among women in their 20s. For Asian American and Pacific Islander women, the rate climbed 2.7% a year in those under 50 and 2.5% a year in older women.

These and other concerning findings come out of an American Cancer Society report published Tuesday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, charting breast cancer trends in the US. It notes one in eight US women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during their lifetimes and one in 50 before the age of 50. More than 50,000 cases will be diagnosed in women under 50 just this year, per the report. Researchers can't explain why diagnoses are rising among young women, though they note missed screenings, genetic history, alcohol use, and environmental factors may play a role, per News Nation.

Early-onset cancers are worrisome because they tend to be more aggressive and can easily go unnoticed as screenings aren't usually recommended before the age of 40. "Getting a diagnosis often takes longer in younger women, leading to delays in treatment and more advanced disease," per the Times. The highest risk of diagnosis before the age of 50 is among white, Asian American, and Pacific Islander women (86 per 100,000) and Black women (81.5 per 100,000). As Black, American Indian, Alaska Native women have higher rates of death from breast cancer, ACS epidemiologist and senior author Rebecca L. Siegel calls for improving "access to high-quality screening and high-quality treatment for all women of color," per the Times. (More breast cancer stories.)

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