On Tuesday an American Cancer Society report published a report with updated statistics on breast cancer numbers in the United States. The report states that one in 50 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer before they turn 50. This is based on research done at the National Cancer Institute calculations.
Karen Knudsen, who is the CEO of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said this about these findings, “If we look at the last decade or so, we’ve seen breast cancer incidence rise at about a 1% year-over-year increase, and the steepness of that increase does not affect all women in this case equally…there is a slightly higher increase in the rate of breast cancer diagnosis for women who are under age 50 versus those that are above age 50…these are things that we are watching to try to understand.”
The biggest increase was seen in young women that were in their 20s whose rate increased by roughly 1.4% every year since 2021. The rates of breast cancer in women of all ages have also increased, yet this number is a bit lower increasing 1% every year since 2012.
The study says that this uptick is most likely due it’s likely due to modifiable risk factors, examples of these include exposures to food, air, or water, as well as rising rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyles.
