Breast cancer rising among younger women and Asian Americans, report finds
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Americans have benefited from huge leaps in breast cancer treatment over the last two decades, but diagnoses are becoming more common, especially among younger women, according to a report published Tuesday by the American Cancer Society.
The new report shows that breast cancer mortality has decreased by 44% since the late 1980s. Rates of breast cancer, however, have increased by 1% every year since 2012. In younger women, rates have increased at a faster clip — by about 1.4% every year since 2021.
"That is very alarming because we know that screening only starts at age 40," said Dr. Sonya Reid, a breast medical oncologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who was not involved with the report. "It's not just one racial or ethnic group affected, we are seeing it across the board, so it's hard to link it to ancestral or genetic factors alone."
Still, the report showed differences among groups. Among Asian American and Pacific Islander women under 50, breast cancer diagnoses have increased by 50% since 2000. Breast cancer rates in AAPI women younger than 50 are now higher than those in Black, Hispanic and 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.
The reason why more women younger than 50 are getting breast cancer is not clear, but Reid said it's likely due to modifiable risk factors such as environmental exposures in food, air or water, rising rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyles — the same risk factors thought to be causing higher rates of colorectal cancer in younger people.
Dr. Wendy Wilcox, chief women's health officer at New York City Health + Hospitals, said that it's likely not just one factor alone is driving the increase in younger breast cancer diagnoses.
"There are all sorts of ideas we can throw out as to the reasons why, but until it's studied we won't know for sure," Wilcox said.
The report also 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.
"To see a 44% decrease in mortality is incredibly gratifying, but these gains have not been seen equally in all populations," Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, said during a media briefing on Monday.
This was not always the case, he said: In 1970, Black and white women had the same mortality rates for breast cancer. Today, Black women are 5% less likely to get breast cancer than white women, but are nearly 40% more likely to die from the disease. The American Cancer Society researchers noted that this disparity is seen in even the most treatable types of breast cancer.
"For a long time, the community had thought the disparity is largely due to the higher rates of triple-negative breast cancer, but this shows Black women are more likely to die from all subtypes of breast cancer," Reid said. "These advances that we have seen are really due to improvements in therapeutic advances and early detection, and we know if there are inequities in access to these improvements, we will see a widening in these disparities."
American Indian and Alaska Native women have a 10% lower chance of getting breast cancer than white women, but are 6% more likely to die from it, the report found. Just over 50% of these women over 40 had gotten a mammogram in the past two years, compared to nearly 70% of white women. The report also found that Hispanic women are also less likely to be screened than white women.
Compared to white women, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, American Indian and Alaska Natives, Black and Hispanic women are all more likely to develop breast cancer at a younger age, the report found. However, AAPI and Hispanic women have similar mortality rates to white women.
To close disparities, the nation will have to expand access to early screening and the best cancer treatments, Wilcox said.
"Health care dollars are not allocated equitably across everyone in our country," she said.
Even for those with insurance, coverage varies greatly, and a person's ability to take off work for a mammogram or care and whether they live near a cancer center also play key roles in access, Wilcox said. Each person's family and personal history and genetics will also determine when they should start screening for breast cancer.
"Moving forward, we really need to make sure we have wide access to effective treatments for all of our patients," Reid said. "We have seen that despite more effective drugs, the racial disparity gap has not budged. Another drug is not going to do it."
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Some of you know that my younger sister, who is 46, was recently diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. She's doing well, and is expected to have a good prognosis, but access to care was an issue. She has good insurance and a high-paying job, but that doesn't help much when you can't get an appointment for that "just one more" mammogram or ultrasound. It doesn't make appointments with the surgeon or radiation oncologist more available. We stress early detection and treatment, but there are waiting lists for treatment, even when a problem is identified.
Evening Sandy...good to hear your sister is doing well..
My cousin in Queensland was diagnosed with breast cancer over 20 years ago she just celebrated her 70th birthday...and is still cancer free...
They are finding that here to, so many younger people are getting cancers in their 30s and 40s..
I was shocked down St Vincent's in Melbourne when under going myeloma treatment how many young people there were...all different nationalities, age groups and different cancers regarded as "old age" types appearing in younger people...
Mammograms here the average wait would be one to two weeks but if urgent pretty well straight away...I live in a rural area so not to bad..
Best wishes to your sister..🐨
Thank you, shona.
My wife just had her appointment canceled because they no longer have someone to do the mammogram at her clinic.
Sorry to hear that. I hope at least that it was a screening mammogram, and not one that was urgent.
My sis had to have a few followup mammogram and CT scans to help the surgeon locate the tumor for biopsy and, once it was definitively diagnosed, removal via lumpectomy. There were waits every time.
I'm grateful that I live in metro area with numerous hospitals and specialty clinics. I hope your wife can get that rescheduled quickly
I lost 2 friends to that cancer 2 and 3 years ago, my aunt 20+ years ago, my paternal grandmother 65 years ago, and none of them caught it before it was too late. it adversely affects the women on one side of my family.
My aunt passed from it last spring. This was a recurrence. She first had it in the late 90s-early 2000s and had a mastectomy. When they found it the second time, it was already too late to do anything.
I also lost a cousin to it a week ago. Second occurrence for her, too
my sincerest condolences. one of my oldest friends, deb, was given 6 months and she added 3 years to that. in our last conversation before her 3rd or 4th round of chemo, she told me how tired she was and wasn't sure she wanted to do it. I called her a few weeks later to check in and her husband, another of my oldest friends, told me he had just left the hospital where she had died less than an hour before. that hit pretty hard. luckily, I was out of state.
now at my age, wedding invitations are rare and funeral announcements aren't. I don't like attending funerals. there's never the right words to say and it's not my idea of a basis for a shared meal or get together. I reluctantly go to blood connected funerals now, and I never want to be the centerpiece at one. my daughter's been instructed to put my ashes in a box and scatter me where she and her brothers want. split anything left any way they want, I'll be dead and I won't care.
I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.
When my aunt's cancer returned, she said she didn't want to do chemo again, either. But she seemed to waffle a bit, and went to an oncologist. But he told her he couldn't help her, anyway, other than to do palliative radiation treatments to help with the pain. It was already in her chest wall.
It seems I've been attending a lot of funerals the last few years, too. My parents both come from large families, and their siblings are passing away. Mom was one of 8 who survived to adulthood (13 born), and there are now only 2 left, Mom and her oldest sister. She visited that sister in July, and I think it will be the last time they see each other. COPD at nearly 90 doesn't leave you much time, and Texas is a long way to travel.
Dad has lost 2 of his 9 siblings. His oldest brothers are not well, and one sister has terminal lung cancer.
You're right - funerals are a shitty reason to get together.
ditto
I'm supposed to go for a life celebration for one of my oldest friends in November.
I'll let you use your imagination as to what I may have said to former acquaintances that have inquired as to where I was when I was absent from a memorial they apparently thought I should have attended, despite not seeing or speaking to each other for the previous decade(s). I'll write something nice and share a memory if somebody sends me something on facebook, one of it's few redeeming features in my opinion. the deceased won't know or care.
Arvo..I am with you..if they can't be bothered seeing you or speaking with you while they were alive...why in the hell would they expect you to roll up at their funeral.. that's the last place I would want to be..
When I cark it I would rather my true friends be there, but if not I ain't going to give a flying fig..
Each to their own and alot of people I know have attended funerals..not that they particularly care for the deceased but for the food after it..and that has always irked me re the food after a funeral..one of my pet hates I am afraid...
Here at least they don't go back to the deceased house, it's usually at a hall or pub etc..I can't imagine anything worse you are grieving and got a house full of people freeloading. Is that the norm there??Nahhh stuff that..
I got a series of calls from former colleagues several years ago about attending a funeral of a jerk whose life I had threatened more than once. he was a despicable human being that repeatedly stole from his peers and openly cheated in company sales contests and bonus programs. all while presenting the facade of a deeply religious evangelical family man. his wife was a brainless agoraphobic and his 2 kids were also deeply disturbed.
after about the 4th or 5th call imploring me to attend his funeral, I finally told the person that I couldn't attend because I thought that opening his casket during the ceremony to urinate and defecate upon the deceased would be wildly inappropriate, even by my standards. these people all knew what a cretin he was, and yet went to his funeral and for some reason wanted me to go as well. wtf?
after 2 years of speculation by others over the cause of his mysterious death, it was finally revealed that after a coke and scotch filled weekend, he had taken too many sleeping pills in an attempt to reverse the cycle and prepare for the following work week. adios moron.
back in the day they just laid you out on the dining room table in your best clothes and had a party for you.
At the end of the day, depending on how much land you had, they just wrapped you up in the table cloth and dropped you in the ground with your rellies out back.
That's great! I mean that the prognosis is expected to be good.
Yeah. I know what you mean.
Again, I know what you mean. My bro, two years younger than me, had a physical and they found something concerning. They said he should get a CT scan for his lungs but in spite of that it took a while to actually get it done, in spite of the fact he had good insurance and a good job.
Which makes me think about the viability of universal healthcare. Would that make things better or worse? And, better or worse for whom? Would your sister or my brother have gotten in sooner or later? My hunch would be later. If everyone had the same access to limited resources I don't see how it could be otherwise.
That isn't an argument for or against universal healthcare. Rather, what it makes me think most about is what we expect of whatever system is in place. I see TV programs of brilliant medical doctors solving cases with passion and intensity but the reality is that it's more like an industrial processing plant doing what they can with limited time, resources and emotional capital on the practitioner's part. And that doesn't even address the profit motive that seems to dominate medicine in this country. I do think universal healthcare would make the situation worse but I can't really object to it as the people who don't have insurance or can't afford it love their loved ones as much as I love mine.
I'm not really sure what my point is. I would guess that it has something to do with the idea that we overestimate or over-rely on the medical system, even though we don't really have much choice in that. I think we are given to over-expectations due to entertainment media. We sort of expect that, even though we understand that hospitals are over stressed in numerous ways, our personal dramas will infect medical practitioners with our own desperation, like in the TV shows. That isn't the case. In reality, they see a never ending stream of need to which they inevitably become numb.
In the end, I just go with the fact that life is precious, but fleeting. We will not live forever, nor will those we love. Everyone dies. Make the most of the time you have.
Thank you, Drakk. I hope your brother is doing well, too.
I don't see it as either supporting or opposing universal healthcare, either. If wait times are an argument against universal healthcare, well, we have wait times here. My patients lately have told me that if their primary doc refers them to a cardiologist, they can't get an appointment for 18 months. Of course, if they end up in the ER with a heart attack, they'll be seen sooner, but anything not deemed immediately life-threatening gets put off. Dermatology is at least 6 months, so I hope folks have been diligent with the sunscreen. And my sis, who is a travel PA, turned down a permanent job at the hospital where she's at because if she orders a colonoscopy for a patient who has signs indicating possible colon cancer, it won't be done for at least a year unless they can drive 3 hours from Farmington, NM to Albequrque. Her hospital doesn't have enough OR rooms available, or staff for those rooms.
No matter how we're paying for healthcare, we need more doctors, mid-levels, and nurses, and we need to somehow encourage them to go to areas where their specialty is in need.
Thank you. He has a vascular disease so, sort of a slow-motion killer. If you met him you would not think anything was wrong with him unless you tried walking any distance with him. He's fine standing still or sitting but the blood flow to his legs is so bad he can't walk far without a lot of pain. I think we're all surprised he's lasted as long as he has but I suspect things are about to go downhill rather rapidly in the next year or so. Still, I'm grateful for the time I've had with him. He's the best friend I have in this world.
Yeah. Pretty much the way I see it. My main opposition to universal healthcare has more to do with the almost guaranteed mismanagement of what would be a government program. When the military pays over a thousand dollars for a hundred nuts I could buy for five dollars at the hardware store sort of thing.
I know, right? Why do you suppose that is? Perhaps it is simply my cynicism, but I tend to think it has to do with the ridiculous amount of money it costs to go through college to become a doctor or other medical practitioner, combined with the industrial medical complex doing the same sort of thing the military industrial complex does. Throw in the ambulance chasing legal system, too. I'd appreciate your opinion on this since you are apparently involved in the medical community.
As an aside, I'd also appreciate your opinion on something else. I'm due for my physical in November. When I was younger, docs used to have me take all my clothes off and they did an examination of my body. Now, they just have me fill out a form and ask me questions. They don't even stick that thing in my ear and have a look. About all they do anymore as far as examining me goes is a stethoscope for the lungs. The whole process leaves me feeling like the whole point of the physical is to simply create something they can charge my insurance for, since the whole thing could be completed in less than five minutes. That is, the physical seems pointless since when I go in for some other thing, it's indistinguishable from a physical. I get the same examination and questions. The only real difference is the bloodwork. The whole thing leaves me feeling like I'm going to the medical version of McDonalds.
In your opinion, what would be the best way to make that happen?
medicare for all and mandatory hard labor federal prison sentences for those caught scamming the system.
I'd say it's going to vary by area and specialty. There is just a scarcity of cardiologists and dermatologists here. There isn't one based in my town at all. The cardiology office here is a satellite of the office in the next county north. As far as I can tell, there are plenty of primary care providers and orthopedic surgeons. They closed the labor and delivery unit of our county hospital to do more joint replacements, so all Ob/Gyn patients have to go elsewhere, but I can always get an appointment with my gyn a county away pretty quickly. Where my sister works, there seem to be enough gastroenterology providers (that's what she does), but not enough anesthesiologists and OR staff to keep up with colonoscopies and endoscopies. I had no problem scheduling that when I was due, so it seems we don't have a similar shortage here..
Subsidize medical education, so they don't start out hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and make working easier. Most docs will tell you that they hate the busy work they seem to have to do anymore that takes them away from their patients. Clicking through screens in electronic medical records, being on the phone with insurance companies, pharmacists, labs, etc. Physicians used to do mostly patient care, but now they have to do that and a lot of clerical work, too. And there are hospital politics at play. Burnout is a serious problem in healthcare.
Yeah, I agree that that is not how it should be. If I did such a cursory exam on my patients, I'd be risking missing something and opening myself up to a well-deserved malpractice suit. I would think they'd at least do vitals, check heart and lungs, check your throat and mouth, palpate your abdomen, and check your skin all over to screen for cancer, as well as the dreaded prostate exam, depending on your age.
I encourage my wife to have a mammogram regularly as per protocol.
Living to an old age is great except for the fact that you lose family and friends along the way and soon it is just you.
At 84 I am in that stage of life so probably in the next 5 years I'll be ''The last Indian standing''.... but I'll still be at a Pow Wow, black water medicine in hand, full regalia telling stories to the younger generations of my part in the Indian Wars.
Going out with style is the ticket.
the 7 greatest words ever uttered along with the best working concept for a successful life ...
I don't have breast cancer in my family...I have colon cancer. My mom's sister and her mother both died from it. I started getting regular colonoscopies at age 38 at the time when 50 was the age people got their first. Colon cancer is another cancer that's showing up in younger people.
To all that have lost a loved one to any form of cancer (I hate you cancer!), my deepest sympathies and condolences
I can’t overemphasis the importance of early or timely cancer detection testing. This is even more important if you have a family history or a genetic predisposition.
In Jan 2020 I developed some gut symptoms and sensations. As this is the busy part of my work annual cycle, I checked it off due to work. By early April I started to worry. I was long overdue a colonoscopy, sixteen years overdue.
I tried but couldn’t get an appointment in April, as COVID was preventing elective procedures. I got one at the end of May, doctor found a large but benign polyp that probably was the cause of the symptoms. He also found something he had never seen, he described it like moss on a rock in the area were the small intestine meets the large. The tissue was positive for cancer but I was lucky. Early stage 1 was the diagnosis.
I talked with 3 surgeons, selected one and was schedule for endoscopic surgery several weeks later. A CT scan was part of preop. That changed everything. My cancer originated in my appendix and had spread throughout my abdomen. I started chemo one week later. My chemo process was a four hour in fusion at a center and then leaving connected to a pump and chemo reserve for 40 hours of pumping at home. I would do this every other week unless my white blood cell count was too low, then booster shots and try again the following week.
After 8 sessions and some healing time, I had extensive abdominal surgery at one of the best hospitals for this procedure, Johns Hopkins. I surgery removed all visible cancer, multiple organs and before closing me up, 90 minutes of heated chemo to kill nonvisible cells. I elected for a follow-on six week treatment of chemo, I thought it would give me insurance against a repeat.
It worked for four years, then my cancer wanted a rematch, said the TKO was a fake vote, a fraud. As I type this, I’m in the middle of my third chemo series. I might have enough tissue left for additional surgery post chemo. My surgeon is know in Boston, so maybe a Beantown trip is in my future as I’m more apt to follow his advice than the one local surgeon I’ve seen so far.
Please get tested early and often, your life and the happiness of your friends and loved ones depends on it.
Best of luck Drinker.
Best of luck.
Hang in there DOTW. Sorry it has come back at you, but you beat it once before, you can do it again! Best wishes my friend!
good luck and we need you around here
according to my late uncle, a professor at an ivy league college, that never taught a class and devoted nearly 40 years to research in human biology and was part of a research team that shared an international prize in medicine. he had told us many times that if medical research received the same money that big pharma spent yearly on advertising, there would be treatment or cures for many diseases, but there's no profits for big pharma among the healthy ...