Is Breast Cancer Incidence on the Rise?

By Lillie Shockney, R.N., M.A.S. -

Feel like you can't open a woman's magazine or watch TV without hearing something about breast cancer?

I think we hear more about breast cancer today because in 1992 it "came out of the closet," if you will. That was the year the pink ribbon was introduced to boost breast cancer awareness. People decided to buy them like crazy, and by wearing the pin, start telling others they either had breast cancer or loved someone who has it or survived it.

And with those pink ribbons came a more relaxed and comfortable attitude about breast cancer, talking about it in public and discussing it in open forums—always with the goal that by raising awareness we could save more lives (and breasts). And it's worked.

Another logical explanation of why we're hearing so much about breast cancer these days is that the incidence of breast cancer is increasing. Why?

Well, one reason why reported cases are on the rise is because there's just a lot more women today who are at risk. As of July 1, 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated there were 78.2 million people—baby boomers—born between 1946 and 1964. Since about half of those are women, it follows that the more women there are the more women will develop breast cancer. Statistics suggest that about 1 of every 1,326 women develops breast cancer.

Another reason for a rise in breast cancer cases is that more women are at risk. More women are overweight today and—since we store estogen in our body fat—we are carrying more estrogen around in our bodies. More women are letting their careers take off now too, and starting their families later. While this is is a wonderful trend, the downside is that we know a woman's risk for breast cancer increases when she delays her first pregnancy beyond age 30.

Here's another risk factor: Women are still smoking and drinking alcohol, both of which are risk factors for breast cancer. And we also suspect that certain substances in the environment increase risk, but we really don't have an understanding, yet, of what or how.

There are two positive aspects to all of this:

• The stats on surviving cancer continue to improve by about 1 percent each year and have for several years.
• Perhaps because of the media focus on breast cancer, the numbers of women getting screening mammograms and doing breast self exams is increasing, both of which help catch breast cancer at an early, treatable stage.

I look forward to the day when I'm out of a job because breast cancer has been eradicated. If that day is ever going to come, however, you need to stay informed. Read the articles in the women's magazines, get your annual mammograms, and see your doctor for annual clinical breast exams.