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Date: January 11, 1995
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  PHS/NIH (301) 496-6641

Breast Cancer Deaths Decline Nearly 5 Percent

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced today that the death rate for breast cancer in American women declined 4.7 percent between 1989 and 1992, the largest such short-term decline in the United States for this disease since 1950. The data come from statistics of the National Center for Health Statistics, the NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program, and other sources.

The decline for white women was 5.5 percent between 1989 and 1992. However, African-American women did not experience a similar decline. Their rate of death due to breast cancer increased 2.6 percent over the same time period. African- American women currently experience 31.2 deaths per 100,000 women compared to 26.0 per 100,000 for white women.

"While there remain many reasons for concern, these findings overall are encouraging. But it's important to remember how far we still have to go in confronting breast cancer," Secretary Shalala said. "We do not know if this trend will hold for the long-term, we do not have a thorough understanding of the causes, and we are still very far from seeing a positive trend for all American women. The job before us remains immense."

For white women, the decline occurred in nearly every age group. In white women under age 40 - specifically ages 30-39 - the decline was 8.7 percent between 1989 and 1992. Further, in contrast to other age groups, the decline for women in their 30s began earlier. Between 1987 and 1992, the decline has been 18 percent.

The percent decline for other age groups, 1989-1992, was 8.1 percent for ages 40-49, 9.3 percent for ages 50-59, 4.8 percent for ages 60-69, and 3.4 percent for ages 70-79. For women 80-89, the death rate is still increasing, about 1 percent between 1989-92.

Samuel Broder, M.D., director of the National Cancer Institute, reported the first analysis of the 1992 death rates for breast cancer in remarks to the National Cancer Advisory Board on Jan. 10.

Much research will be needed to understand the specific reasons for the declining rates, Dr. Broder told the board. "We believe that several factors are involved including adjuvant therapy for breast cancer, breast cancer awareness and screening with mammography and clinical exam, and changes in risk factors. For the very youngest women - those in their 30s - advances in adjuvant chemotherapy almost assuredly are playing a major role."

Broder told the board that the numbers demonstrate once again the disparate progress in our society against many diseases. Minority-specific differences are also found for prostate cancer, cervical cancers, colorectal cancer, and head and neck and other cancers, as well as other diseases. "A key mission of NCI is to reduce this differential in minority groups," said Broder.

"We need to make more progress against breast cancer for all women," Dr. Broder told the NCAB. "Breast cancer causes more suffering than we can ever measure. Nonetheless, this new information is a basis for cautious optimism.

"The research programs supported by the National Cancer Institute have made, and will continue to make, progress against the deaths and suffering caused by breast cancer and the other terrible diseases we deal with," Dr. Broder said.

Secretary Shalala said that "Efforts against breast cancer have been a priority under President Clinton, and we will continue to press for further progress."

Breast cancer research under HHS is funded at $391 million in FY 1995, compared with $300 million in FY 1994 and $229 million in FY 1993. In addition, federal standards were issued last year for facilities that provide mammography. And HHS in 1994 provided the first clinical guidelines on mammography to better educate health care providers and consumers on correct use of the procedure.

In September 1994, scientists reported the isolation of the BRCA1 gene, which is critical in the development of breast cancer in many women. The discovery was described as bringing science closer to understanding the origins of breast cancer and enhancing the ability to identify women at higher risk of developing the disease.

Secretary Shalala also convened a national conference on breast cancer in 1993, resulting in the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer, which outlines specific actions now being undertaken under HHS leadership by a public-private partnership.

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Copies of the complete text of Dr. Broder's remarks to the National Cancer Advisory Board on January 10, 1995 are available from the Office of Cancer Communications at the National Cancer Institute, (301) 496-6641.