However, this rate has been stable amongst white, Native-American and Latina women studied between the same period. Women 55 years and older should transition to biennial screening or have the opportunity to continue screening annually (qualified recommendation).
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The crowd of participants made it the largest event in the state in support of the America Cancer Society. Death rates were 42% higher in black women than white women in 2012, according to the American Cancer Society, a nonprofit organization that works to eliminate cancer.
More women are now surviving a breast cancer diagnosis than 20 years ago, thanks to a combination of advanced medical treatment and most importantly of all, early diagnosis. For example, younger women are more prone to false positives and the possible diagnosis of small, non-threatening cancers that would not cause discomfort for the patient if left
untreated.
Here in the New York Times is one of those on-the-other-hand stories that comes as another breast cancer awareness month ends along with attendant “pink” corporate marketing and major events such as the Race for the Cure. If there is ever an “earliest moment” cancer can be detected in a human being, this was it. For that, we are forever grateful.
But while the white rate for breast cancer diagnoses has leveled off, the black rate has continued to creep up. But the researchers say the leading theory has to do with obesity. A family history of breast cancer-specifically in a first degree relative (mother, sister or daughter)-approximately doubles a woman’s risk of developing the disease. Mammograms will find most, but not all breast cancers.
Also, in the South at least, black women tend to have more additional health problems at the time they’re diagnosed, Martin said. The new guidelines state women ages 40 to 44 should consider yearly screening mammograms. Reasons include lack of regular screening and/or follow up of suspicious results, lack of access to timely, high-quality treatment, and higher proportion of aggressive, harder to treat tumors. They are also more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and have the lowest survival at each stage of diagnosis.
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It recommended women be able to start screening as early as 40 and talk to their doctor then.
