ATLANTA — Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in Georgia women, as well as in the United States as a whole. It is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among Georgia women, after lung cancer.
Research shows that black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. The reason women aren’t getting treatment after their breast cancer diagnosis, and the emotional impact on families, Thursday at 5 p.m. on Channel 2 Action News.
The Georgia Department of Public Health said women in the United States have approximately a one in eight chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
According to the department, the top five cancers in Georgia are breast, lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, uterine corpus and melanoma. As for cancer-related deaths, the top five cancers are lung and bronchus, breast. colon and rectum, pancreas and ovary.
How Does Georgia Compare with the United States?
Breast Cancer Age-Adjusted Incidence Rates, Georgia vs. the US, by Race, 1999-2011
Between 2000 and 2005, breast cancer incidence rates for white women in Georgia decreased by an average of 2.3 percent per year, and between 2005 and 2011, rates increased again, by 0.4 percent annually. In comparison, breast cancer incidence rates for white women in the U.S. decreased by 2.6 percent per year between 2000 and 2004, and then held steady through 2011.
Between 2000 and 2011, breast cancer incidence rates for black women in Georgia increased by about 1.0 percent annually. In comparison, incidence rates for black women in the U.S. have increased by 0.6 percent per year between 2000 and 2011.
Breast Cancer Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates, Georgia vs. the U.S., by Race, 1980-2011*
Between 1990 and 2008, breast cancer mortality rates for Georgia white women decreased by 1.9 percent per year. Breast cancer mortality rates for white women in the U.S. decreased by 2.6 percent annually between 1990 and 1999, and then continued to decrease by 2 percent each year through 2011.
Breast cancer mortality rates increased for Georgia black women by 8.5 percent per year between 1990 and 1993. After 1993, mortality rates for these women decreased by 1.6 percent per year through 2008. Black women in the U.S. had breast cancer mortality rates that held steady between 1990 and 1995, then decreased by 1.5 percent annually through 2011.
* Because of data quality issues, 2009 Georgia cancer death data are not used for analysis. This report includes data for 2006-2008 and 2010-2011 combined for Georgia-specific analyses.
For more information, you can visit the American Cancer Society.
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