Breast Cancer Deaths Continue Decline, American Cancer Society Report Says

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Article Date: 05 Oct 2009 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

U.S. breast cancer deaths have declined by about 2% annually since 1990, according to an American Cancer Society report, the Los Angeles Times/Boston Globe reports. The report estimates that 192,370 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and that 40,170 will die from it. According to the report, breast cancer deaths among black women have started to decrease at the same rate as white women but remain 40% higher.

The report used the most recent data available to discern survival rates for women with breast cancer. It found that 89% are still living five years after diagnosis, 82% at 10 years after diagnosis and 75% at 15 years after diagnosis.

According to the report, the incidence of breast cancer diagnoses began to grow by 1.6% annually in 1994 after holding steady since 1987. Many experts believe the increase was tied to more widespread use of hormone replacement therapy, which was shown in 2002 to increase the risk of breast cancer. From 1999 to 2006, the incidence fell by an average of 2% per year. The average decline was driven by a sharp decrease in diagnoses between 2002 and 2003, when a significant percentage of women stopped using HRT, according to the Times/Globe. Some of the decline might also be the result of decreased use of mammography during that period (Maugh, Los Angeles Times/Boston Globe, 10/1).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations