Breast Cancer Incidence Increases, but Mortality Rates Drop

ATLANTA, Ga. – Breast cancer mortality rates are on a three-decade decline, but there’s an increase in incidence among women younger than 50 and Asian American and Pacific Islanders of all ages.

An estimated 310,720 women and 2,790 men will be diagnosed with new cases in 2024. About 42,250 women and 530 men are expected to die from breast cancer in 2024.

The American Cancer Society released its new 2024 statistics in a biennial update today, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, finding an encouraging 44% drop in breast cancer deaths since 1989.

However, the rates for American Indian and Alaska Native women have remained unchanged, and there is a 1% increase in breast cancer incidence from 2012 to 2021. Women younger than 50 years old have seen a 1.4% increase per year, while Asian American/Pacific Islander women have seen a 2.5% to 2.7% increase each year.

“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. “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.”

Breast Cancer follows only skin cancer as the most common cancer among U.S. women and is the leading cause of death among Hispanic women. While fewer Black women are diagnosed with breast cancer than other ethnicities, those who are diagnosed have a lower survival rate, prompting a study launched in May for Black women at voices.cancer.org.

Some other key statistics from the report:

• Alaska Native women have 10% lower breast cancer incidence than white women, but 6% higher mortality, and only 51% of Alaska Native women age 40 or older had a mammogram in the past two years, compared with 68% of white women.

• Breast cancer in women under age 50 has increased in Asian American/Pacific Islander women by 50% since 2000, surpassing the rate in young Hispanic, Alaska Native and Black women to become the highest rate alongside white women (both 86 per 100,000).

• Black women continue to have a 38% higher breast cancer mortality rate than white women, despite a 5% lower incidence. Black women also have lower survival than white women for every breast cancer subtype and stage of diagnosis, except localized disease, with which they are 10% less likely to be diagnosed (58% compared with 68%).

“Women today are a lot less likely to die from breast cancer, but alarming disparities still remain, especially for 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.”

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.