Is progress really being made in the treatment of breast cancer?
• A: Significant progress has been made in recent years due to improvements in education, prevention, detection, and treatment. However, breast cancer still ranks second among cancer deaths in women (after lung cancer). An estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 40,480 breast cancer deaths are expected to occur among women in the United States in 2008 (ACS, 2008). • After steadily increasing for more than 20 years, female invasive breast cancer incidence rates decreased by 3.5% per year from 2001 to 2004. Incidence rates have also stabilized since the late 1990s for in situ breast cancer. Reduced incidence rates may be related to: • Decreased use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) following publication of the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative report linking HRT to increased risk of heart diseases and breast cancer. • A slight drop in use of mammography in women aged 40 and older. • Death rates from breast cancer have decreased in women since 1990, with a larger decreas
