Highest Decline in Breast Cancer Seen in Affluent White Women

Breast cancer rates have dropped over the past several years, but mostly among white women who are well off, says a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Analyzing data from the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database, Harvard researchers confirmed their theory that breast cancer incidence from 1992 to 2005 fell only among white non-Hispanic women. Most of these women were aged 50 or older, lived in high-income counties, and were diagnosed with ER-positive tumors. According to the researchers, no such trends existed among black non-Hispanic, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian/Alaska Native women.

“The recent decline in U.S. breast cancer incidence was not equally beneficial to all women, but instead mirrored the social patterning of hormone therapy use. Joint information on socioeconomic resources and race/ethnicity is vital for correctly understanding disease distribution, including that of breast cancer,” wrote the authors in the study abstract.

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