WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - According to a new report by the American Cancer Society, breast cancer cases have been rising by 1 percent every year among women under 50 in the U.S.
Dr. Lisa Newman, a co-author of the report, told to ABC News, 'We speculate that it is related to differences in lifestyle and environment given the obesity epidemic and more women delaying their childbearing years and having fewer pregnancies over their lifetime.'
The report, released at the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, noted that breast cancer risks persist among American Indian and Alaska Native women, with no improvement in death rates. Additionally, Asian American/Pacific Islander women are seeing a nearly 3 percent increase in breast cancer cases.
Notably, Black women face a 38 percent higher chance of dying from breast cancer compared to white women. They also experience worse outcomes at nearly every stage and subtype, except for localized cancers.
Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, commented, 'If you look at Black women between the ages of 20 and 29, their chances of dying from breast cancer is two times greater than their White colleagues.'
Interestingly, the study, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, also highlighted that the overall breast cancer death rate in the nation dropped by about 44 percent between 1989 and 2022, saving almost 518,000 lives from the condition during that period.
'This decline is evidence of our success in better treatments for breast cancer, especially with targeted treatments,' Newman told to ABC News.
Looking ahead, the study predicts that over 310,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in 2024 with more than 42,000 deaths expected from the disease.
'These are things we are watching to try and understand,' Dr. Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society, said in a press meet. 'Our commitment to the breast cancer problem will continue until that number becomes zero.'
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