There is both positive and negative news in the findings from the American Cancer Society (ACS) reported here. From 2001 to 2004, breast cancer diagnosis rates dropped an average of 3.7% each year. For women older than 50, diagnosis rates dropped even more: about 5% each year. Breast cancer death rates also dropped about 2% each year. These declines are great news and support other findings.
The researchers believe that part of the reason for the declines in breast cancer diagnoses and death rates is because hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use dropped during the same time period. HRT use dropped dramatically in 2002 after the Women's Health Initiative study showed women taking estrogen/progestin HRT after menopause had a higher risk of breast cancer.
But the researchers also believe that some of the decline in breast cancer diagnosis rates is because more women are not getting regular screening mammograms and so are not being diagnosed in a timely way. This makes it seem as if breast cancer rates are falling more than they really are, which is something everyone should be concerned about.
The ACS report also points out that African American women are not experiencing the declines in breast cancer death rates seen in women of other races. Research suggests that one of the major reasons for this difference is that breast cancers in African American women are biologically different than breast cancers in white women. This can mean that breast cancers in African American women are more aggressive cancers that are harder to treat.
It's encouraging that breast cancer diagnosis and death rates continue to decline. Allow that good news to motive you to do all you can to minimize your breast cancer risk. A healthy diet, regular exercise, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco are good places to start. And there is NO excuse for not performing breast self-exam and not having regular mammograms. It's YOUR health and YOUR future and YOU deserve the best.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The death rate from breast cancer continues to drop steadily by about 2 percent a year, but black women are not seeing the same benefits as whites, the American Cancer Society said on Tuesday.
The group found that during 2001 through 2004, breast cancer diagnoses fell by an average of 3.7 percent a year -- in part because women stopped taking hormone replacement therapy and in part because fewer got mammograms and therefore were not diagnosed.
Death rates fell by 2 percent during that period.
For women over the age of 50, breast cancer rates fell more sharply, by 4.8 percent a year since 2001, the group said. Breast cancer rates were stable among black women and younger women, the group said.
"While many women live in fear of breast cancer, this report shows a woman today has a lower chance of dying from breast cancer than she's had in decades," Dr. Harmon Eyre, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said in a statement.
The report, titled "Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2007-2008," also shows that about 2.4 million U.S. women alive in 2004 had a history of breast cancer.
The American Cancer Society predicts that 180,510 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2007, and 40,910 women and men will die from it.
In January, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a slight 2 percent drop in the number of women getting regular mammograms, which can help doctors diagnose breast cancer early, when it is the most treatable.
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