Breast Cancer Continues to Rise Among Younger Women, Study Finds
The New York Times
Death rates are declining among U.S. women with breast cancer. But the disease is turning up more often in women under age 50.
Rates of breast cancer — the second leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. women — climbed by 1 percent a year from 2012 to 2021, and even more sharply among women under age 50 and among Asian American/Pacific Islander women of all ages, according to an American Cancer Society report published on Tuesday.
The biennial report is among the most comprehensive and detailed studies of breast cancer occurrence over recent years. One in 50 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer by the age of 50, the authors said, based on National Cancer Institute calculations.
The sharpest increases in young adults by age during the decade were among women in their 20s, whose rate increased by about 2.2 percent a year, though their absolute risk remains very low, at about 6.5 per 100,000 women.
Among Asian American/Pacific Islander women, who historically also have had a low prevalence of the disease, rates increased by 2.7 percent a year among those under 50, and by 2.5 percent a year among older women.
Cancer is generally considered a disease of aging, and that hasn’t changed: The vast majority of breast cancer cases and deaths still occur among older women. But the new study is one of several documenting a troubling uptick in malignancies among younger Americans.
These so-called early-onset cancers pose special challenges. Striking in early adulthood or midlife, they tend to be aggressive yet are often missed because they are not expected, and routine screenings are aimed at older adults.
New findings suggest that an extraordinarily powerful and dangerous burst of radiation might flare from our sun in the future.
Anchored by juicy braised duck and finished with an unforgettable family-size crème brûlée, this menu from Clare de Boer will have everyone talking.
The shower forms from the debris of an asteroid and peaks this weekend. But a nearly full moon could interfere with viewing.
The opposing paths taken by two powerful firms — Benchmark and Andreessen Horowitz — embody a profound debate about the future of an industry that funds and fosters American innovation.
Aaron Siri, who specializes in vaccine lawsuits, has been at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s side reviewing candidates for top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Scientists are concerned that the H5N1 virus could set off another human pandemic. But it is already putting species under pressure in the wild.
The scarcity and fragility of rare old bottles makes them naturally memorable, but these 12 younger wines had their own unforgettable charms.
DNA from European fossils dating back 45,000 years offers new clues to how our species spread across the world.
An intense struggle has unfolded in Washington between companies and officials over where to draw the line on selling technology to China.
There’s a universal — and easy — answer to a common kitchen predicament.
More adolescents than ever are watching it. What’s needed, researchers say, are frank conversations and “porn literacy.”