A new report from the American Cancer Society has revealed a rise in breast cancer diagnoses in women 50 years and younger.
“Breast Cancer Statistics, 2024” published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians found that although breast cancer mortality rates have decreased by a total of 44% since 1989, an alarming uptick in breast cancer incidence has been found in women younger than 50, with an annual increase by 1% from 2012 to 2021.
According to ACS’s biennial report, in 2024 approximately 310,720 women will face an invasive breast cancer diagnosis while the disease will be a cause of death for around 42,250.
Angela Giaquinto, lead author and ACS associate scientist in cancer surveillance research, said that even with a steady decline in breast cancer mortality rates, “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 trails skin cancer as the most common cancer among U.S. women, and according to Dr. William Dahut, ACS chief scientific officer, “alarming disparities” remain particularly among Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American, and Black women. For Black women, the group maintains a 38% higher breast cancer mortality rate than white women.
“These gaps need to be rectified through systematic efforts to ensure access to high-quality screening and treatment for every woman,” Dahut said.
In May, the ACS launched the VOICES of Black Women study to examine cancer and other health disparities faced by Black women in the U.S, the largest study of its kind that will span a minimum of 30 years
. A diverse team of researchers will conduct the study with active input from participants who will complete surveys twice a year and provide insights throughout the duration of the study.“The reasons for the increased prevalence of breast cancer in younger patients are complicated, multifaceted, and still being studied,” Dr. Christopher McGreevy, associate chief of breast surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, told Fox News Digital. McGreevy noted contributing factors such as obesity, delayed childbearing, environmental toxins or genetics. Some researchers attribute the cause to systematic racism, delays in diagnosis, and inadequate access to timely cancer treatment.
The report from the ACS examined cancer data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), and the National Center for Health Statistics.
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