Trends And Disparities in The Incidence and Mortality of Breast Cancer Among Women in The U.S.

• In Event: Sociology of Population Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1. Health Disparities

Abstract

Breast cancer outcomes vary by race/ethnicity and age in the United States. Black women and older women face higher death rates than other groups. Overall mortality has declined since 2000, but these improvements have not been shared equally, and it remains unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic affected these long-standing disparities. Using SEER cancer registry data from 2000–2022, I examine trends in breast cancer incidence and mortality rates across racial/ethnic and age groups among women ages 40 - 75 and older. Results show that non-Hispanic White women consistently had the highest breast cancer incidence rates throughout the study period, while non-Hispanic Black women had the highest mortality rates. Incidence was highest among women aged 65–74, followed closely by women 75 and older, who also experienced the highest mortality rates. Incidence rates fell sharply in 2020, likely due to pandemic-related delays in screening and diagnosis, but rebounded in subsequent years. Mortality declined over the two decades, and continued to decline through 2022, though improvements were smaller for Black women and the oldest age groups, leaving these groups with persistently higher death rates. As a result, disparities by race and age persisted or widened over time. These patterns suggest that the COVID-19 disruption may have deepened existing gaps in cancer care and highlight the need for breast cancer mortality rates to be closely monitored by public health agencies in the coming years, as the observed dip in incidence in 2020 may have significant implications for future breast cancer mortality.
Keywords: Breast cancer; Breast cancer incidence; Breast cancer mortality; Racial and age disparities; COVID-19 pandemic

Author

• Esther Oluwaseun Oshaji, Syracuse University