Some good and bad news about breast cancer in NJ and the U.S., report finds

⚫ The American Cancer Society has released its Breast Cancer Stats report

⚫ There is some good news and some bad news in the report

⚫ Black women continue to have higher mortality that white women

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, The American Cancer Society has released its Breast Cancer Statistics for 2024.

The Key Findings

There was some good news in the report. It found that breast cancer mortality rates overall have dropped by 44% since 1989, thus averting approximately 517,900 breast cancer deaths.

However, not all women benefitted from this progress.

Breast women in black women continue to have higher mortality compared to white women, said Dr. Christina Annunziata, senior vice president of Extramural Discovery Science at The American Cancer Society.

“Even though they have a five percent lower incidence of breast cancer, they have a 38% higher mortality rate,” she said.

This is not a new finding but this is something that continues.

The American Cancer Society has a study that was launched called The Voices of Black Women. This is to look at risks for all cancers for black women, Annunziata. Women ages 25 and 55 may be enrolled. The study can be found at here.

A new finding is that breast cancer incidents have been rising by 1% per year over the last 10 years and the higher increases are being seen in women under 50 years old, rising 1.4% per year, Annunziata said.

While more research needs to be done as to why more younger women are being diagnosed with breast cancer, Annunziata said the hypotheses could be related to modifiable risk factors reported earlier this year.

These risk factors include diet, exercise, smoking, obesity, and excess body weight.

“Another population that really stood out in this report is the Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders where there’s actually been the steepest increase, up to 2.7% per year in both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women. That is a population, while small in the United States needs to be further studied because that is a concerning finding,” Annunziata said.

Advances in Early Detection

The report also found that breast cancer mortality rates continue to decrease thanks to advances in early detection and treatment.

Those advances include more widespread use of mammography and screening tests such as breast MRI, if needed, for women with dense breasts.

High-quality screenings in women are being implemented more and more, helping prevent breast cancer by finding it in a pre-cancerous stage, Annunziata said.

“Other things with respect to treatment, there have been advances in treatment such as targeted therapies for particular mutations that are found in breast cancer, and also there’s been exploration into using immunotherapy for breast cancer, but we’re still waiting on the results for that,” she explained.

Diagnoses and Deaths

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the U.S. after skin cancer, and the leading cause of cancer death in Hispanic women, according to ACS.

In 2024, an estimated 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women. The report also found that approximately 42,250 women are expected to die from the disease in the United States this year, as well as 530 men.

In New Jersey, data shows that 8,880 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, she said.

Mammogram

Mammograms are so important for early detection of breast cancer. Annunziata said women should generally begin to get screened at age 45, and not at age 50, like many have been led to believe.

“Certainly earlier if there is a family history or any suspicion of a hereditary breast cancer in the family,” she said.

But, early detection is key.

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