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IJE Advance Access originally published online on February 28, 2005
International Journal of Epidemiology 2005 34(2):405-412; doi:10.1093/ije/dyh414
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Published by Oxford University Press 2005

Article

Global trends in breast cancer incidence and mortality 1973–1997

Michelle D Althuis1, Jaclyn M Dozier1, William F Anderson2, Susan S Devesa3 and Louise A Brinton1,*

1 Hormone and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Boulevard, EPS MSC 7234, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
2 Gastrointestinal and Other Cancers Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
3 Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20852, USA

* Corresponding author. Hormone and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch, Division of cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Boulevard, EPS MSC 7234, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. E-mail: brintonl{at}mail.nih.gov

Background Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cancer and is the leading cause of cancer death among women.

Methods To describe global trends, we compared age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates over three decades (from 1973–77 to 1993–97) and across several continents.

Results Both breast cancer incidence and mortality rates varied 4-fold by geographic location between countries with the highest and lowest rates. Recent (1993–1997) incidence rates ranged from 27/100 000 in Asian countries to 97/100 000 among US white women. Overall, North American and northern European countries had the highest incidence rates of breast cancer; intermediate levels were reported in Western Europe, Oceania, Scandinavia, and Israel; and Eastern Europe, South and Latin America, and Asia had the lowest levels. Breast cancer incidence rose 30–40% from the 1970s to the 1990s in most countries, with the most marked increases among women aged ≥50 years. Mortality from breast cancer paralleled incidence: it was highest in the countries with the highest incidence rates (between 17/100 000 and 27/100 000), lowest in Latin America and Asia (7–14/100 000), and rose most rapidly in countries with the lowest rates.

Conclusions Breast cancer incidence and mortality rates remain highest in developed countries compared with developing countries, as a result of differential use of screening mammograms and disparities in lifestyle and hereditary factors. Future studies assessing the combined contributions of both environmental and hereditary factors may provide explanations for worldwide differences in incidence and mortality rates.


Keywords Breast cancer, incidence, mortality, time-trends, international

Accepted 18 November 2004


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