Breast Cancer in California
Every two hours, on average, a California woman dies of breast cancer.
During 2001, an estimated 20,000 California women were diagnosed with the disease. Nearly 200,000 women in the state are living with a past or present diagnosis of breast cancer. While many are long-term survivors, some are battling a recurrence and others are fighting for their lives. Today, no woman who has survived breast cancer can be guaranteed that it won't return.
Because of early detection through widespread mammogram screening, a California woman diagnosed with breast cancer today has a better chance of surviving than in the past. Since 1973, the breast cancer death rate in the state has dropped 20%. However, California women are more likely to get breast cancer today than in 1973. The breast cancer rate for California rose alarmingly until 1988. It has gone down only slightly since, and last year, the state's breast cancer rate actually rose slightly.
Not an Equal Opportunity Killer
When it comes to breast cancer in California, ethnicity makes a difference. White women are most likely to get the disease, followed closely by black women, then Asian/Pacific women, with the lowest rate among Hispanic women.
Although the death rate has dropped in the last 12 years, most of the gains have come for white women. Black women have the highest death rate, even though they are less likely than white women to get the disease. Death rates for Asian/Pacific and Hispanic women, although they were lower to begin with, have not improved in recent years.
Income level also matters. Low-income women are less likely to survive breast cancer, because their tumors are more likely to be caught later, when treatment is less successful.
