Breast Cancer Is Rising Among American Young Women, While Deaths Are Falling: Study – National

Deaths from breast cancer are declining, but new data from the US shows the prevalence of cases among women under 50 is increasing.

That has caused breast cancer screening advocates to once again push for change in Canada.

The study, published Tuesday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, found that deaths decreased by 44 percent between 1989 and 2022.

“I think that’s great,” Kimberly Carson, CEO of Breast Cancer Canada, told Global News. “That’s why we work as hard as we do in research to change those statistics.”

There were approximately 518,000 fewer deaths overall during that period, although it is noted that certain demographic groups have not seen the same decline. American Indian/Alaska Native women saw no decline in mortality, while black women have a 38 percent higher mortality than white women, despite a five percent lower incidence.

In fact, the study shows that this group has the lowest survival rate of all racial and ethnic groups for every breast cancer subtype and stage of the disease, except for the “localized stage,” in which they are 10 percent less likely than whites to have breast cancer. women are diagnosed.

Even with these discrepancies, however, the study says that the decline in deaths overall is due in large part to advances in treatment and earlier detection through screening.

“The sooner we find out, the better the outcome,” Carson said. “Certainly, screening is obviously a huge, huge priority because we can detect it in phase 0, phase 1… your chance of surviving breast cancer is almost 100 percent.”

According to the study published on Tuesday, the incidence of breast cancer increased by one percent each year between 2012 and 2021.

The research shows that the increasing trend is mainly limited to hormone receptor-positive diseases, where breast cancer cells appear to have receptor proteins to which estrogen and progesterone attach, stimulating cancer growth.

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Additionally, the study notes that related risk factors such as increased obesity and a continued decline in fertility rates have also contributed – the Canadian Cancer Society notes that not getting pregnant at all increases the risk of breast cancer, while “the more children a woman has , the greater the protection against breast cancer.”

The data revealed several differences depending on race and ethnicity, with Asian American and Pacific Islanders seeing the fastest increases. Those under 50 saw a higher increase of 2.7 percent, compared to 2.5 percent among those 50 and older.

Among white women, there was an annual increase of 1.4 percent under age 50, compared to 0.7 percent among those age 50 and older.

The increase in cases among younger women is just the latest in a series of studies showing that several types of cancer are on the rise among younger adults. A study published in The Lancet in July shows higher incidence rates among Generation X and Millennials for 17 of the cases. 34 types of cancer, including breast, pancreatic and stomach forms.

Early detection is an important way to get ahead of the disease or treat it early, but that’s proving to be a potential problem north of the border, where data suggests similar trends.

A study published in April found a similar increase among Canadian women, especially those under 50.

Between 2015 and 2019, there was an annual average of 5.7 cases per 100,000 people in their twenties, an increase of 45.5 percent over the number between 1984 and 1988.

Between these two periods there was also an increase of 12.5 percent for people in their thirties and 9.1 percent for people in their forties.

The Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care maintained its guidelines in May, recommending regular screening mammography only for patients between the ages of 50 and 74, although women in their 40s can request it.

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The decision on breast cancer screening leads to a review of the Canadian task force

The task force said its position was due to concerns about overdiagnosis and unnecessary biopsies, but some experts called it “outdated and flawed”, and Health Minister Mark Holland announced that he would call an external investigation into the task force amid its decision open.

The task force’s move came as the U.S. lowered its own recommended age to 40, and Ontario said it would expand screening this fall.

Carson said the U.S. survey shows the number of young women is rising and the lack of exercise in Canada is “unfortunate.”

“It saves lives if we can catch it earlier and it also puts less cost on the system if we can catch it earlier,” she said.

A recent Angus Reid survey last month, commissioned by the organization, found that 94 percent of Canadians thought screening should start at age 40, but more than 27 percent reported that neither they nor a loved one have been screened and that this depends on when cancer is discovered. , it changes the treatment.

“If you’re diagnosed with zero or stage 1, you can just do a lumpectomy and radiation and then you get started, unlike, say, stage 3, where you might be looking at chemotherapy, surgery, more chemotherapy and radiation; it’s definitely a longer journey,” Carson said.

However, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, there are things you can do to reduce your risk, such as limiting alcohol intake, being physically active and following screening guidelines.

— with files from Katie Dangerfield of Global News

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