Researchers from Harvard Medical School have reported that the recent decline in breast cancer incidence was restricted to White non-Hispanic women in high-income counties and probably reflects discontinuation of hormone therapy.
The details of this study appeared in an early online publication in the American Journal of Public Health on February 10, 2010.[1]
Breast cancer mortality rates began to decline in the United States in 1990, and the most recent statistics suggest that this decline is continuing. Nevertheless, an estimated 40,170 women will die of breast cancer in 2009, making breast cancer the second leading cause of cancer death (after lung cancer) in U.S. women. Furthermore, although declines in mortality have been observed in African-American, Hispanic, and White women, African-American women continue to have higher rates of death from breast cancer than White women.
Hormone replacement therapy increases the risk of developing hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in post-menopausal women. The publication of results of the Women's Health Initiative study, which showed that hormone replacement therapy increased the risk of developing breast cancer, led to a cessation of such therapy for most post-menopausal women. This was attributed to a recent decreased incidence of breast cancer.
Researchers sought to determine if racial and ethnic disparities existed in the recent decline in breast cancer cases. They looked a data from the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registries. They observed the following:
- Falling breast cancer rates "occurred only among White non-Hispanic women who lived in high-income counties, were aged 50 years and older, and had ER-positive tumors."
- "No such trends were evident--regardless of county income level, ER status, or age--among Black non-Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or--where numbers were sufficient to conduct meaningful analyses--American Indian/Alaska Native women."
Comments: These are important data, which suggest that the incidence of breast cancer--except for those cases attributable to hormone replacement therapy--is not declining in the United States. However, there is some data to suggest that breast cancer mortality is declining for all ethnic groups.
SOURCE: Cancer Consultants
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