A new report from the American Cancer Society reveals breast cancer incidence rates continued to increase while mortality rates declined overall, though significant racial disparities persisted.

The "Breast Cancer Statistics 2024" report, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, provided a comprehensive overview of breast cancer trends in the U.S. An estimated 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 56,500 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were expected to be diagnosed among US women in 2024, and approximately 42,250 women are projected to die from breast cancer in 2024.

Breast cancer incidence rates rose by 1% annually from 2012-2021, with steeper increases among Hispanic and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) women. The breast cancer mortality rate decreased by 44% from 1989 to 2022, translating to approximately 517,900 fewer breast cancer deaths. Black women continued to have 38% higher breast cancer mortality compared to White women, despite 5% lower incidence.

The overall age-standardized breast cancer incidence rate was 131.8 per 100,000 women during 2017-2021. Rates varied by race/ethnicity, ranging from 104.1 per 100,000 in Hispanic women to 137.9 per 100,000 in White women. Incidence increased most rapidly among AAPI women, rising 2.7% annually in those aged 20-49 and 2.5% annually in those 50 and older from 2012-2021. Young AAPI women had the second lowest rate (57.4 per 100,000) in 2000 but the highest rate (86.3 per 100,000) in 2021, alongside White women (86.4 per 100,000).

The rising incidence trend was largely confined to hormone receptor-positive and localized-stage disease. During 2012-2021, localized-stage breast cancer rates increased 1.4% annually, while regional-stage rates remained stable.

Breast cancer survival varied widely by stage at diagnosis, molecular subtype, and other clinicopathologic features. The 5-year relative survival rate ranged from >99% for localized stage disease to 87% for regional stage and 32% for distant stage disease. Black women had the lowest survival for regional and distant stage disease, with the largest deficit compared with White women for regional stage (79% vs. 89%).

The breast cancer mortality rate decreased from approximately 33 deaths per 100,000 women in 1989 to 19 deaths per 100,000 in 2022. However, not all groups experienced equal progress as White women experienced a 43% mortality reduction since 1990, while Hispanic and Black women experienced a 31-32% reduction, AAPI women a 13% reduction, and American Indian/Alaska Native women experienced no significant change in the breast cancer mortality rate.

The report highlighted that approximately one in eight women in the U.S., or 13%, will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, and one in 43, or 2%, will die from the disease. The risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer peaked in women aged 70-79 years, whereas the risk of dying from the disease continued to increase throughout life.

The report analyzed population-based cancer incidence data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries. Mortality data from 1975 to 2022 were based on death certificates reported by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The report provided incidence rates by breast cancer subtype, age, and race/ethnicity. The widest racial and ethnic variation was observed for HER2-negative cancers. Black women had incidence rates of triple-negative breast cancer (HR-negative/HER2-negative) approximately two to three times those of all other women among both younger and older age groups.

The authors noted several limitations, including potential underestimation of cancer incidence and mortality in some populations, particularly American Indian/Alaska Native individuals, due to errors in reporting race and ethnicity. Additionally, incidence rates and trends were based on cancer registry data that did not contain information on breast cancer recurrence.

Conflict of interest statement can be found in the report.