Breast Cancer Rates Falling

A new report just released from Canada says that the rate of death due to breast cancer is falling significantly.

The 'Canadian Cancer Society' has produced the new study. In the study information from 1986 to the present was investigated. The results show that the rate of death because of breast cancer has fallen 25 percent over this time period.

The director of the 'Cancer Control Policy' and part of team working on the study, Heather Logan, said, "While these stride are good news, breast cancer continues to take a significant toll. We chose to study breast cancer more intensely this year because it's the most common cancer among Canadian women, as well as globally. We must continue to make inroads against this devastating disease that affects so many women and their families."

The reason given for the significant fall in breast cancer deaths is that testing for the disease has improved greatly. This has allowed many cases to be caught earlier, increasing the chances of recovery.

Paul Lapierre, from Cancer Control, stressed the importance of making sure breast cancer screening was easily accessible to all women. He said, "We know breast cancer screening works. Barriers to screening must continue to be identified and overcome. If more women are screened, more will survive."

It is thought that the development of breast cancer can be caused by a number of factors. This included how a woman lives, such as, what she eats, how much exercise is taken, weight, and alcohol consumption. However it is important to note that even if a woman lives a completely health lifestyle there risks of developing breast cancer.

To help keep the rate of breast cancer deaths falling the writers of the study have made some suggestions. These include making is easier for women to get screened, more research into possible genetic causes, more research on how work and the environment can affect breast cancer development and continue to create new treatments.

In Canada breast cancer is still a big killer, despite the falling death rate. This year in Canada it is expected that over 22,000 women will get diagnosed and of these women around 5,300 will not survive.

In the United State breast cancer is also a big concern. Just under 200,000 women in the US get diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Around 40,000 US women will die from the disease this year. The rate of death has also dropped in the US as more and more women are getting screened early. There are also theories that link the use of hormones during menopause to breast cancer. When this theory was introduced a few years ago many women stopped taking hormones. It is thought that this too has contributed in the drop in breast cancer cases in the US.

Sources
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-12-14-breast-cancer_x.htm
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/04/10/health/c01041007_02.txt
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070410/breast_cancer_070410/20070411?hub=TopStories
http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=7c082ff1-2be8-407f-bf76-091bababd34e&k=90899