Better Screening and Treatment Means (a Lot) More Breast Cancer Survivors

From 1975 to 2019, the mortality rate among American women battling breast cancer has declined by 58%, mainly due to advances in screening and treatments.

The 58% reduction figure represents “what the mortality would have been estimated to be in 2019 if no improvements [in screenings and treatments] had been made” in the 44 years examined, explains Jennifer Caswell-Jin, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of oncology at Stanford Medicine.

Observational and clinical trial data from four federally funded Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network models were analyzed. Modeling helps to account for changes in breast cancer incidence over time. Almost half—47%—of the 58% reduction was attributed to earlier and more effective treatment among women with stage 1, 2, or 3 breast cancer. About 25% of the reduction is due to improved mammography screening and 29% due to better treatment of metastatic breast cancer.