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Breast cancer rates among Asian American and Pacific Islander women have risen significantly across the United States. According to statistics, around 11,000 of them were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 and 1,500 died. The latest federal data shows the rate of new diagnoses among the groups that once had relatively low rates of diagnosis – is increasing much faster than that of many other racial and ethnic groups.
The National Institutes of Health says around 55 of every 100,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander women under 50 years were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, surpassing the rate for Black and Hispanic women and on par with the rate for white women.
Also, the new cases of breast cancer among Asian American and Pacific Islander women under 50 years have spiked by 52 per cent from 2000 through 2021. Rates for AAPI women 50-64 years grew by 33 per cent and rates for AAPI women 65 years and older grew by 43 per cent during that period.
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By comparison, the rate for women of all ages, races, and ethnicities grew by 3 per cent.
Researchers not sure of the reasons
According to experts, who are trying to find out why it is occurring within this ethnically diverse group, they say even though there is no concrete evidence, reasons range from cultural shifts to pressure-filled lifestyles. A few lifestyle factors that cause a rise in cancer, include:
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- Tobacco use
- Alcohol consumption
- Diet
- Sun exposure
- Physical inactivity
- Obesity
According to the age-adjusted, provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 12 of every 100,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander women of any age died from breast cancer in 2023. The breast cancer death rate among all women during that period dropped 30 per cent.
The CDC does not break out breast cancer death rates for many different groups of Asian American women like Chinese or Korean descent. It has, though, begun distinguishing between Asian American women and Pacific Islander women.
Nearly 9,000 Asian American women died from breast cancer from 2018 through 2023, compared with about 500 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women. However, breast cancer death rates were 116 per cent higher among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women than among Asian American women during that period.
Other cancers also also see a significant rise
Also, other than breast, cancers like pancreatic, thyroid, colon, and endometrial along with non-Hodgkin lymphoma rates have seen a major uptick among Asian American and Pacific Islander women under 50 years. Yet breast cancer is much more common and has been especially concerning because doctors say young women are more likely to see a more aggressive form of the disease, with high mortality rates.
Experts fear a more than 4 per cent rise
According to experts, there is expected to be around a 4 per cent per year rise in the number of cases in women less than 50 years of age. "We're seeing somewhere almost around a 4 per cent per-year increase," Scarlett Gomez, a professor and epidemiologist at the University of California-San Francisco's Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center was quoted by CBS News.
Risk factors for breast cancer
While Gomez says there is not yet enough research to know what is causing the recent spike in breast cancer, experts have suggested it may involve multiple risk factors over a long period. A few of these include:
Family history
If a parent, sibling, or child has had breast cancer, your risk is higher.
Genetics
Studies say inherited gene mutations are responsible for about 5-10 per cent of breast cancer cases. The most common mutations are in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
Obesity
A few lifestyle factors like being overweight or obese, especially after menopause
Hormones
Taking hormones like oral contraceptives or menopausal hormone therapy