Steadily Increasing Breast Cancer Rates in Asian Americans
In recent decades, Asian Americans have experienced steadily increasing breast cancer rates, in contrast to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, reported Gomez et al in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. The investigators examined incidence trends by age and stage among women from seven Asian American ethnic groups in California from 1988 to 2013 as well as incidence patterns by subtype and age at diagnosis for the years 2009 through 2013.
All Asian American groups except Japanese experienced incidence increases, with the largest among Koreans in 1988–2006 and Southeast Asians in 1988–2013. Among women younger than age 50, large increases occurred for Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians; among women over age 50, increasing trends occurred in all American Asian ethnic groups.
Culturally tailored efforts to increase awareness of and attention to breast cancer risk factors are needed. Given the relatively higher rates of HER2-overexpressing subtypes in some Asian American ethnicities, research including these groups and their potentially unique exposures may help elucidate disease etiology.
