Breast cancer incidence is lower for Latinas

Breast cancer incidence is lower for Latinas than for non-Latina white women, but Latinas diagnosed with the disease are more likely to die than white women, according to a report released by the American Cancer Society, Long Island Newsday reports (Taylor, Long Island Newsday, 9/13).

According to the report, 89.1 out of every 100,000 Latinas developed breast cancer from 2000 through 2003, 40% lower than the breast cancer incidence of 140.6 cases of breast cancer per 100,000 for non-Latino white women during the same time period.

However, Latinas who were diagnosed with breast cancer from 1992 through 2000 were about 20% more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than non-Latino whites of similar age and stage of the disease, the report says (ACS, "Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics/Latinos 2006-2008," 2006).

The report and other recent data have shown that Latinos are less likely to be screened for breast cancer and other cancers, Newsday reports.

Sylvia Diaz, vice president of ACS' Suffolk County, N.Y., regional office, said women who receive mammograms to screen for breast cancer vastly improve their treatment options and reduce mortality risk.

"Uninsured women diagnosed with breast cancer are 50% less likely to survive for the next five years than those with insurance," Diaz said, adding, "The take-home message is that we have to promote screening as early as possible within that population."

The report also says that Latinas from 2000 through 2003 had a higher incidence - 14.2 per 100,000 - of cervical cancer than the rate for non-Latina white women - 7.3 per 100,000 (Long Island Newsday, 9/13).