We Can Reduce Breast Cancer Mortality

Abstract

In my search for a topic for this column, I turned to my tried-and-true strategy of choosing a condition or issue that is featured in the month when the article will be published. I can usually find one that primarily affects women and something that I haven’t written about recently (or ever). As I did my research for this article, I selected a serious subject that touches on several content areas in my writing formula. October is dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer, a disease that affects people across the adult life span. In their annual statistics published in January 2022, 1 Siegel R.L. Miller K.D. Fuchs H.E. Jamal A. Cancer statistics, 2022. CA Cancer J Clin. 2022; 72: 7-33 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1334) Google Scholar the American Cancer Society reported an overall 32% decline in death rates from all cancer in the United States between 1991 and 2019. Cancer remains the second most common cause of death; cardiovascular disease is still number one. Some of the decrease in cancer deaths is attributed to a decline in lung cancer due to smoking cessation and the increased survival rates for lung cancer because of earlier detection. Unfortunately, breast cancer rates in aggregate have not had the same downward progression, remaining static over the last decade. However, for Black women, breast cancer mortality has increased and has become the number one cause of death. 1 Siegel R.L. Miller K.D. Fuchs H.E. Jamal A. Cancer statistics, 2022. CA Cancer J Clin. 2022; 72: 7-33 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1334) Google Scholar Although Black women have a lower incidence of breast cancer, their risk of dying from the disease is more than 40% higher than that for White women. 1 Siegel R.L. Miller K.D. Fuchs H.E. Jamal A. Cancer statistics, 2022. CA Cancer J Clin. 2022; 72: 7-33 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1334) Google Scholar There are a number of institutional and social structural factors contributing to the disparities in morbidity and mortality for breast cancer and other diseases in Black women. These have existed for generations, but only recently have they been examined and acknowledged. Section Editor Denise G. Link, PhD, WHNP-BC, FAAN, FAANP, is a clinical professor emerita at Arizona State University Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation in Phoenix. She can be reached at [email protected] .