Breast Cancer Cases Among Asians: Breast Cancer Cases Among Asians

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Breast cancer is becoming more prevalent in Asia and affecting younger women than those in the U.S. and Europe, a cancer specialist in Hong Kong said.

"We are seeing younger women with breast cancer throughout the whole region. It's the same in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, (South) Korea and Singapore," said Louis Chow, executive director of the Hong Kong-based Organization for Oncology and Translational Research (OOTR).
"Compared to (victims in the) U.S. and Europe, we're seeing pre-menopausal women in Asia, whereas in developed countries we are seeing post-menopausal women, in their mid-50s. In Asia, we see those in their 40s and we are not even surprised to see those in their 30s," he said in an interview.
Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer in women. In the United States, it affects one in eight women and is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in women after lung cancer.
Eighty percent of breast cancer cases occur in women over 50 in the United States. Breast cancer is rare for men.
While the median age of women stricken with the disease in Hong Kong is 52, it is increasingly seen in younger women.
Between 1993-1997, 88 cancer cases were seen in the 40-49 age group per every 100,000 of the population, up nearly 63 percent compared to 54 cases in the years 1978-1982.
But cancer cases in the 50-59 age group grew more slowly. Between 1993-1997, there were 98.5 cases per every 100,000 of the population, up just 31 percent compared to 75 cases in 1978-82.
Cases in the 30-39 age group grew 43 percent over the same period.
But while breast cancer has been extensively studied in the West, experts have little idea as to the risk factors in Asia.
"In the West, the risk factors are a very strong family history, uterine and ovarian cancers. These may also apply here, but we can't just use them," said surgeon Chow.
"We can't borrow the model from the West and put it here. We have a different genetic makeup. We have different clinical presentations especially in terms of age, we can't just borrow."
COMPLACENCY
In a survey carried out in March with 1,000 women in Hong Kong over the age of 18, 70 percent of participants did not have annual mammograms, or screening for early breast cancer.
While 80 percent of those with primary education were aware that annual screening was necessary for women over 40, only 63 percent of those with tertiary education were aware of that.
"Those with more education ignore the facts of breast cancer, they are very deficient in knowledge, maybe they have no time," said Chow, who urged governments in Asia to put more resources into screening to reduce mortality rates.
Approximately 240,510 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2007 and 40,460 women will die from it. In Hong Kong, where the population stands at nearly 7 million, 2,273 new cases were diagnosed in 2004 and 454 women died from it.

Breast cancer afflicting younger Asian women

Breast cancer occurs less often among women in Asian countries (such as China and Korea) than among women in Western countries (such as the United States and Europe). There are probably many factors that explain this difference. Different genetics are probably a large reason for the differences in breast cancer risk among different populations. But other factors, such as diet and exercise, also can affect breast cancer risk in different groups.
The research reviewed here found that breast cancer now is being diagnosed more frequently among women living in Asian countries, especially among younger women. This is an alarming trend. The researchers don't explain why this is happening. In the past, the diets and lifestyles of Asian women supported a lower risk of breast cancer compared to Western women. The average woman living in an Asian country:

eats more fresh vegetables
is closer to her ideal body weight
is more physically active
is less likely to drink significant amounts of alcohol

It's possible that some of the increase in breast cancer diagnoses is the result of more younger women in Asian countries adopting a typical Western diet and lifestyle. Research has shown that Asian women who live in the United States and have adopted a typical Western diet and lifestyle have breast cancer rates similar to the general U.S. population.
It's also possible that other environmental factors are contributing to the rising rate of breast cancer among women living in Asia. Much has been written about higher levels of pollution that have been brought about by rapid industrial growth in China. Environmental factors such as air and water pollution have been associated with cancer.
The researchers also point out that a large number of women in Asia (70%) don't get regular mammograms. Because breast cancer rates are increasing, Asian governments and healthcare systems will have to work harder to boost awareness of breast cancer risk and the importance of annual screenings.

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Breast Cancer Cases Among Asians

Breast cancer afflicting younger Asian women

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