Incidence Trends of Breast Cancer

More young women are being diagnosed with advanced, metastatic breast cancer than were three decades ago, a new study suggests - although the overall rate of cancers in that group is still small. One in 173 women will develop breast cancer before she turns 40, researchers said, and the prognosis tends to be worse for younger patients.

In the new study, a team led by Dr. Rebecca Johnson at Seattle Children's Hospital and the University of Washington found the rate of metastatic breast cancer, in particular, rose about two percent each year between 1976 and 2009 among younger women.

Published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the article abstract is available or contact your hospital library for full text access.

Incidence of Breast Cancer With Distant Involvement Among Women in the United States, 1976 to 2009, Rebecca H. Johnson, MD; Franklin L. Chien, BA; Archie Bleyer, MD JAMA. 2013;309(8):800-805