Take Action To Change Young Adult Breast Cancer Statistics
When all young adults affected by breast cancer work together, we can raise awareness, improve our representation in research and make each other stronger. We are dedicated to these goals, working to turn our unique challenges into opportunities for shared success. Join the movement! Become an advocate for young women with breast cancer.
What Is Secondary Breast Cancer
Secondary breast cancer is when breast cancer spreads from the breast to other parts of the body, becoming incurable. Breast cancer most commonly spreads to the bones, brain, lungs or liver.
While it cannot be cured, there are treatments that can help control certain forms of the disease for some time and relieve symptoms to help people live well for as long as possible.
There are an estimated 35,000 people living with secondary breast cancer in the UK. In around 5% of women, breast cancer has already spread by the time it is diagnosed.
The Big Decrease In Breast Cancer Rates From Mid
Of all the reasons suggested above for the rise in breast cancer incidence rates in the 1990s, Ravdin suggest that only the use of HRT changed dramatically between 2002 and 2003.
As we can see from the graph, the sharp of breast cancer incidence rates began in mid-2002. Many studies suggest that this decrease is linked to the release of a research trial from the Womens Health Initiative highlighting the health risks of HRT.
According to the WHI, the use of estrogen-progestin therapy significantly increased the risks of coronary heart disease and breast cancer.
With the widely publicized results of the WHI report on HRT therapy, many women panicked and by the end of 2002, the use of HRT had dropped by 38% in the US. It is estimated that around 20 million fewer prescriptions were written for HRT in 2003 than in 2002.
A further study highlights that the sharp decrease in incidence rates of breast cancer from 2002 to 2003 was most prevalent in women between 50 to 69 years old and with ER+ tumors. This suggests that HRT therapy affect Estrogen positive tumor growth.
However, this research also suggests that this period of a steep decline in breast cancer incidence rates also coincides with a saturation in screening mammography.
Don’t Miss: Where Does Breast Cancer Start
Breast Cancer Incidence Rates Worldwide
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide.
Its estimated more than 2 million new cases of breast cancer occurred worldwide among women in 2020 .
Breast cancer incidence rates around the world vary
In general, rates of breast cancer are higher in developed countries than in developing countries .
A Note On Breast Cancer Incidence By Age Group
The risk of a breast cancer diagnosis increases with age. In Canada it is estimated by the Canadian Cancer Society that 83% of new breast cancer cases will occur in women over the age of 50 years old in 2016.
As we can see from the two above graphs, new breast cancer cases are highest between the ages of 60 and 69 years old. Indeed, 27% of all new breast cancer cases were in women between 60 and 69 years old.
However, the rates in general are highest between the ages of 50 and 69 years and this age group represents 51% of all new cases.
In younger women, only 17% of new breast cancer cases will be diagnosed in women under the age of 50 years. Furthermore, 13% of these new cases occur between the ages of 40 and 49 years.
Recommended Reading: How To Know If Breast Cancer Spread To Lymph Nodes
Mortality Rates And Number Of Breast Cancer Deaths
Sometimes its useful to have an estimate of the number of people expected to die from breast cancer in a year. This number helps show the burden of breast cancer in a group of people.
Numbers, however, can be hard to compare to each other. To compare mortality in different populations, we need to look at mortality rates rather than the number of breast cancer deaths.
Fact : There Is A Breast Cancer Susceptibility Window Before The First Full Term Pregnancy
Breast cancer surgeon, Angela Lanfranchi, MD, in collaboration with the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, has contributed to a much greater understanding of normal breast development, as well as the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to breast cancer.
A distinctive feature of the female breast is that this organ is not fully developed at birth. There is, of course, breast enlargement in girls at puberty, and this tissue is primarily stromal, or support tissue. However, between puberty and the FFTP, there is a susceptibility windowa time when the breast is most susceptible to forming cancer . This susceptibility occurs because the breast is composed primarily of Type 1 and Type 2 lobules.
Under the microscope, Type 1 and Type 2 lobules appear as twigs of a tree. Type 3 and Type 4 appear more like a cluster of grapes. Type 1 lobules account for 85 percent of all breast cancers, and Type 2 account for 12 percent of these cancers. Type 1 and Type 2 lobules have a higher density of hormone receptors, making them more susceptible to hormone stimulation that can result in cancer mutations.
You May Like: Breast Cancer First Stage Symptoms
Differences By Race And Ethnicity
Some variations in breast cancer can be seen between racial and ethnic groups. For example,
- The median age of diagnosis is slightly younger for Black women compared to white women 63 years old).
- Black women have the highest death rate from breast cancer. This is thought to be partially because about 1 in 5 Black women with breast cancer have triple-negative breast cancer – more than any other racial/ethnic group.
- Black women have a higher chance of developing breast cancer before the age of 40 than white women.
- At every age, Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other race or ethnic group.
- White and Asian/Pacific Islander women are more likely to be diagnosed with localized breast cancer than Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.
- Asian/Pacific Islanders have the lowest death rate from breast cancer.
- American Indian/Alaska Natives have the lowest rates of developing breast cancer.
Unique Challenges For Young Adults
Breast cancer in young adults is just different. We are at a different phase of our lives and encounter unique challenges compared to older persons. These challenges may significantly impact our quality and length of life. Some of the unique challenges and issues young adults face:
- The possibility of early menopause and sexual dysfunction brought on by breast cancer treatment
- Fertility issues, because breast cancer treatment can affect a womanâs ability and plans to have children
- Many young women are raising small children while enduring treatment and subsequent side effects
- Young breast cancer survivors have a higher prevalence of psychosocial issues such as anxiety and depression13
- Questions about pregnancy after diagnosis
- Heightened concerns about body image, especially after breast cancer-related surgery and treatment
- Whether married or single, intimacy issues may arise for women diagnosed with breast cancer
- Challenges to financial stability due to workplace issues, lack of sufficient health insurance and the cost of cancer care
Also Check: What Is Adjuvant Therapy For Breast Cancer
Fact : There Is Worldwide Evidence For A Link Between Induced Abortion And Breast Cancer
Even the Susan G. Komen Foundation does now recognize that birth control pill use is a risk factor for breast cancer. Regardless, Komen and the ACS still deny that abortion is also a risk factor for breast cancer . In their meta-analysis of the ABC issue, Brind et al. noted, Experimental evidence of a causal association between induced abortion and breast cancer in rodents was presented by Russo and Russo in 1980 .
Additionally, there has been a recent and remarkable increase in the evidence for an ABC link, especially from non-Western countries.
- Bangladesh A recent casecontrol report from the Dhaka Medical College employed a multivariate analysis. Women in Bangladesh are reported to have very traditional reproductive patterns, as Professor Joel Brind of Baruch College, City University of New York, explained, Almost all the women are married and with child by the time they are 20, and all of the kids are breastfed. Ninety percent had their first child at age 21 or younger . They typically neither take contraceptive steroids nor have any abortions. Nulliparty or abortion before first full-term pregnancy in a population in which breast cancer is almost unheard of, makes the relative risk very high .
China A more recent study from Northeast China found a family history of breast cancer and induced abortion increased the risk of breast cancer. Additionally, breastfeeding protected parous women from any subtype of breast cancer .
The Rise In Incidence Rates Of Breast Cancer In The 1990s
According to SEER statistics, between the years 2010 to 2014, the breast cancer incidence rate was 124.9 per 100,000 women per year.
However, from our line graph we can see that there have been some interesting trends in the rates of breast cancer over the past 19 years.
The age-adjusted increase in breast cancer incidence rates during the 1990s was around 0.5% per year. Furthermore, this rise was especially evident in women over the age of 50.
This rise in breast cancer incidence rates in the 1990s may be explained by a number of factors according to a 2007 research study and these include:-
- Changes in reproductive factors
- Change in environmental factors or diet
diagnosis
Read Also: Pik3ca Mutation Metastatic Breast Cancer
The Role Of Treatment And Management
Reductions in mortality before the introduction of screening, and in those countries without screening activity, indicate that several improvements in disease management might explain many of the observed declines in mortality . In the UK and Finland , the rapid decline in mortality rates shortly after implementation of screening programmes was probably due in part to an increased use of tamoxifen among postmenopausal women with node-positive disease. The Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Cooperative Group reported in a meta-analysis of 55 randomised adjuvant trials that tamoxifen reduced the incidence of contralateral breast cancers by 47% at 5 years . It is likely that the increasing use of this anti-oestrogen has contributed to decreases in mortality from breast cancer in women who are positive for oestrogen receptor in developed countries during the 1990s . However, it has been suggested that the absolute benefit is more modest , because most trials reported on oestrogen receptor-positive women with early disease, whereas about one-third of women are negative for the oestrogen receptor, and many women with breast cancer do not present with early stage disease.
A likely contributory factor to the decline, as noted in the UK, has been the establishment of treatment protocols, improved chemotherapeutic options and better therapeutic guidelines . Specific structural changes that have embraced specialisation of breast cancer care have been shown to improve outcome .
Fact : The Breast Cancer Epidemic Is A Relatively Recent Occurrence
There is now substantial evidence that there is an alarming increase in the incidence of breast cancer. Only four decades ago, there was much less concern regarding the rate of new cases.
The concern about breast cancer was at low ebb and had been so for approximately the first seventy years of the twentieth century. Breast cancer merited a mere two paragraphs in a 1973 American Cancer Society overview, as this update focused on other more noteworthy cancers . The American Cancer Society reported in 1973, In women less than 65 years of age, the breast cancer death rate has shown little fluctuation and is almost unchanged since 1914 .
Recommended Reading: Can Depression Cause Breast Cancer
Preventive Strategies In The Future
The primary risk factors for breast cancer are not easily modifiable because they stem from prolonged endogenous hormonal exposures. The beneficial impact on breast cancer mortality from wider implementation of screening and continuing improvements in treatment are likely to accrue. Primary prevention strategies aimed at promoting breastfeeding, particularly in relation to duration, might also be beneficial .
Prevention trials have shown that tamoxifen lowers breast cancer incidence by 3040% in high-risk women . Currently, it is the only agent to have general approval for chemoprevention of breast carcinoma. However, as tamoxifen and raloxifene raise the risk of thromboembolic disease and endometrial cancer about twofold, different strategies are being pursued to improve the risk : benefit ratio of chemoprevention. Several ongoing trials are investigating a range of preventive regimes, with considerable interest in the aromatase inhibitors .
Further study is necessary to determine which genes consistently predict known breast cancer risk factors, to be able to screen for these and implement prevention . Surgical intervention should largely be limited to those women who have a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Mastectomy has already been chosen by some women who have these mutations, and it can be taken that the number opting for this therapy will increase .
Some Facts And Figures And Recent Statistics
According to the National Cancer Institute , an estimated 252,710 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.
Furthermore, 230,815 American women were actually diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Over 3.1 million American women have been affected by breast cancer as of March 2017.
It has been estimated that around 30% of all female cancers in 2017 will be breast cancer.
However, it is not all bad news. Based on the SEER statistics between the years 2007 to 2013, the percentage of women surviving for 5 years after a breast cancer diagnosis is 89.7%.
Don’t Miss: Can You Live 20 Years With Metastatic Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer Statistics In Young Adults
Although breast cancer in young adults is rare, more than 250,000 living in the United States today were diagnosed under age 40. In young adults, breast cancer tends to be diagnosed in its later stages. It also tends to be more aggressive. Young adults have a higher mortality rate. As well as a higher risk of metastatic recurrence .
Breast Cancers And Dcis Diagnosed By Mammography By Age 10 Year Age Group In The Usa
Initial screening for breast cancer as categorized by age groups demonstrates that the earlier in age screening begins, the higher the rate of DCIS detected.
In our graph to the right, one can observe that DCIS is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 40 and 59 and is very rare in women under 30.
This gives further support to the theory that breast cancer screening should begin at age 40 and continue through the 50s.
Most of the time, DCIS is a better diagnosis and prognosis than invasive cancer and results in fewer mortalities.
In North America, initial screening procedures typically identify DCIS about 30% of the time for women over 40, as compared to 70%breast cancer diagnosis.
Read Also: Can Aluminum In Deodorant Cause Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer Diagnosis And Incidence Rates In Canada: 2016 Statistics
As in many other developed countries, breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer amongst Canadian women.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society statistics, around 25,700 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. This figure relates to 130.1 cases per 100,000 women in the same year.
The actual number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada has increased steadily over the years, due to a growing population. However, incidence rates have remained relatively stable since the 1980s.
Us Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool
The Data Visualizations tool makes it easy for anyone to explore and use the latest official federal government cancer data from United States Cancer Statistics. It includes the latest cancer data covering the U.S. population.
See how the rates of new breast cancers or breast cancer deaths changed over time for the entire United States and individual states.Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
- Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
- You will be subject to the destination website’s privacy policy when you follow the link.
- CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance on other federal or private website.
Read Also: What Is The Percentage Of Breast Cancer Recurrence
Fact : There Is A Substantial Causality Case For An Induced Abortionbreast Cancer Link
As discussed in Fact 8, multiple research groups from around the world have found an association between IA and breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute has identified 70 published scientific reports on this topic, dating back to the 1957 Japanese study . All total, 58 of these 74 international studies show a significant association between abortion and breast cancer, including 12 of the last 13 reports since 2008 .
As early as 1996, a review and meta-analysis by Brind et al. showed a 30 percent increase in breast cancer risk after the first pregnancy, but a 1.5-fold, or 50 percent increased risk before the first pregnancy. Both findings were statistically significant .
Recently, Oxford University researcher, Patrick Carroll, conducted another important epidemiological investigation on the Western epidemic of breast cancer. This multiple linear regression analysis, and multi-national 2007 study, examined a myriad of suspected variables. The conclusion was that abortion is so powerfully linked to breast cancer risk, that it is the single best predictor of the occurrence of breast cancer in all eight European countries studied. Carroll found that future breast cancer rates could be predicted with near 100 percent accuracy by using a nation’s abortion rates, and its fertility rates .
Australia And New Zealand
Incidence of breast cancer in New South Wales increased steadily from the early to mid-1980s , and by 1995 was nearly 50% higher than in 1983. The greatest increase was in the target age group for mammographic screening , which became available from 1984 on a limited basis and in 1992 was nationwide and accessible to all women aged at least 40 years . In New Zealand there were steady increases in both Maori and non-Maori incidence rates from 197892 .
Breast cancer mortality in Australia rose steadily from the early 1970s to the late 1980s . Between 19851989 and 19901994, breast cancer mortality fell by 3.2% in women 5069 years of age and by 4.2% in 2549-year-olds, with little change in breast cancer mortality in older women in this period . The proportion of women screened in all age groups increased substantially between 1988 and 1994, and by 1994 nearly 65% of women in the target age group had had at least one mammogram . Cohort-specific mortality has been reported to be rather uniform , particularly in young women .
Don’t Miss: How To Look For Breast Cancer