Breast Cancer

Minority Women's Health > Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians > Health Topics > Breast Cancer

Women get breast cancer when cells in the breast don't grow correctly and a tumor forms. Getting a mammogram (x-ray of the breast) can help find the cancer early. This gives a woman more treatment options and makes it more likely she will survive the cancer.

Breast cancer is less common in Asian American/Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian women than it is in white or African American women. But, more Asian American/Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian women have breast cancer than do Hispanic/Latina or American Indian/Alaska Native women. Also, the number of Asian American/Pacific Islander women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer has increased. Chinese American and Japanese American women have higher rates of breast cancer than women of their same age in China and Japan. At first, it was thought that a Western diet, which tends to be higher in fat, could explain this difference, but this has not been proven.

Among all other populations in the U.S., Asian American/Pacific Islander women have the lowest death rate from breast cancer. However, among certain Pacific Islanders, death rates from breast cancer are much higher than other groups. Native Hawaiians have the highest death rate from breast cancer than any group in the U.S. Breast cancer also is the leading cause of death among Filipino women. We do not know why the rates vary between these groups. But, of all groups in this country, Asian American/Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian women are the least likely to have ever had a mammogram.

We do not know how to prevent breast cancer. But there are things you can do to reduce your risk, such as keeping a healthy weight and limiting how much alcohol you drink.

There are things you can do to find breast cancer early:

Get a mammogram. It is the best way to find out if you have breast cancer. A mammogram is an x-ray picture of the breast. It can find breast cancer that is too small for you or your doctor to feel. All women starting at age 40 should get a mammogram every one to two years. Talk to your doctor about how often you need a mammogram. If your mother or sister had breast cancer, you may need to start getting mammograms earlier.

A breast self-exam and a clinical breast exam are not substitutes for mammograms.

Get a clinical breast exam. This is a breast exam done by your doctor or nurse. She or he will check your breasts and underarms for any lumps, nipple discharge, or other changes. The breast exam should be part of a routine check up.

Get to know your breasts. You may do monthly breast self-exams to check for any changes in your breasts. If you find a change, see your doctor right away.

The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) program provides free or low-cost breast cancer testing to women who don't have health insurance. To learn more about this program, please contact the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636).

Publications

Asian Pacific Islanders Women's Health: Multilingual Cancer Screening Recommendations - This multilingual site offers several languages to help Asian Pacific Islander women understand the importance of having mammograms and pap smears at regular intervals. Materials are offered in Samoan, Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai.
http://www.apanet.org/~fdala/
Get a Mammogram: Do It for Yourself, Do It for Your Family - This brochure, developed by the National Cancer Institute and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services encourages Asian and Pacific Islander (API) women in their 40s and older to get a mammogram every 1 to 2 years.
http://www.cancer.gov/images/Documents/68432989-7c99-4e56-8352-c813d5ef3422/engli...
Get a Mammogram: Do It for Yourself, Do It for Your Family (Chinese translation) - Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women of many Asian and Pacific Islander (API) groups in the U.S. Many women do not know they have breast cancer until it is advanced. This brochure in Chinese, developed by the National Cancer Institute and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services encourages API women in their 40s and older to get a mammogram every 1 to 2 years.
http://www.cancer.gov/images/Documents/68432989-7c99-4e56-8352-c813d5ef3422/Chine...
Get a Mammogram: Do It for Yourself, Do It for Your Family (Tagalog translation) - Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women of many Asian and Pacific Islander (API) groups in the U.S. Many women do not know they have breast cancer until it is advanced. This brochure in Tagalog, developed by the National Cancer Institute and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services encourages API women in their 40s and older to get a mammogram every 1 to 2 years.
http://www.cancer.gov/images/Documents/68432989-7c99-4e56-8352-c813d5ef3422/tagal...
Get a Mammogram: Do It for Yourself, Do It for Your Family (Vietnamese translation) - Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women of many Asian and Pacific Islander (API) groups in the U.S. Many women do not know they have breast cancer until it is advanced. This brochure, developed by the National Cancer Institute and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services encourages API women in their 40s and older to get a mammogram every 1 to 2 years.
http://www.cancer.gov/images/Documents/68432989-7c99-4e56-8352-c813d5ef3422/Vietn...
Screening Mammograms: Questions and Answers - This fact sheet explains how screening mammograms differ from diagnostic mammograms and explains in clear language the benefits and limitations of screening mammography. This also gives the National Cancer Institute's recommendations for when a woman should begin and how frequently she should continue having screening mammograms.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/screening-mammograms
Understanding Breast Changes: A Health Guide for all Women - This booklet explains how doctors distinguish breast lumps and other normal breast changes that often occur and are confused with breast cancer. It encourages women to get regular screening mammograms and clinical breast exams.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/understanding-breast-changes/allpages
What You Need To Know About™ Breast Cancer - This booklet provides valuable information about breast cancer. It discusses possible causes, screening, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Additionally, this booklet offers women with breast cancer information on how to cope with the disease.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/wyntk/breast
Asian Language Materials - This web site lists the American Cancer Society materials available in different Asian languages such as Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ASN/ASN_0.asp
Asian Pacific Islander Cancer Education Materials Tool (Copyright © ACS) - This catalog of information about cancer provides links to web sites that can provide Asian or Pacific Islander education materials on a variety of cancer topics.
http://www.cancer.org/acmmain
Breast Cancer Information Sheet (Copyright © AANCART) - This publication gives general information about what breast cancer is and who is at risk for breast cancer. It gives specific facts about breast cancer in the Asian American population.
http://ethnomed.org/patient_ed/cancer/breast_cancer_eng_la.pdf
Breast Cancer Racial and Ethnic Differences (Copyright © Susan G. Komen Foundation) - Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women in the United States. It is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among nearly every racial and ethnic group, including African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latina women. The rates of developing and dying from the disease differ among ethnic groups, and this publication discusses these differences.
http://cms.komen.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/komen_document/spbcethnic.p...
Facts and Statistics About Breast Cancer in the United States: Year 2008 (Copyright © NBCC) - This fact sheet identifies trends and highlights important statistics on the occurrence of breast cancer in the United States for the year 2008.
http://www.stopbreastcancer.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&i...
Pictures of Breast Cancer (Copyright © breastcancer.org) - This web site provides pictures of the diagnosis, treatment, anatomy of the breast, how to perform a breast self-exam, reconstruction of the breast, and types of breast cancer.
http://www.breastcancer.org/picture.html

Organizations

= Indicates Federal Resources

Current as of December 2007