Lesser-Known Breast Cancer Spreading Among American Women

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A subtype of breast cancer is on the rise among American women, with incidence rates highest among White females, according to an Oct. 7 peer-reviewed study published in the American Cancer Society’s (ACS’s) journal Cancer.

Except for skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, making up one out of every three new female cancers occurring annually, according to ACS data.

Invasive breast cancer occurs when cancer cells spread into the surrounding breast tissue. There are two common types—invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC).

According to the study, breast cancer stats and clinical data typically reflect IDC as the dominant subtype. As such, researchers analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to identify incidence and outcomes of ILC.

“The incidence of lobular breast cancer has increased from 6 cases per 100,000 women in 1975 to approximately 14 in 2021, mirroring patterns for all other breast cancers that are largely driven by the widespread uptake of mammography screening,” the study stated.

“Rising incidence for ILC, as well as other breast cancers, is thought to be driven by changing patterns in risk factors, such as increasing excess body weight, younger age at first menarche, later age at first birth, fewer children, later age at menopause, and increased alcohol consumption in some age groups.”

The study projected that roughly 33,600 women in the United States will be newly diagnosed with ILC this year. Women aged 60–69 are estimated to account for the majority of these cases, with 10,320 diagnoses.

Between 2017 and 2021, more than half of invasive lobular diagnoses happened among women over 65 years of age. Similar to other breast cancers, the most prevalent tumor sizes for lobular cancer types are less than two centimeters.

For the most recent decade, between 2012 and 2021, incidence rates for ILC have increased “more steeply” at 2.8 percent annually compared to 0.8 percent for other breast cancer types, said the study.

Unlike other breast cancers, ILC incidence was found to be rising at a similar pace among women under the age of 50 years and those above it.

Race-wise, White women had the highest incidence rate for ILC at 14.7 per 100,000 females. Incidence rates among black, Native American, and Hispanic women were roughly 33 to 55 percent lower.

In terms of survival, women diagnosed with ILC have a higher survival rate than those with IDC seven years after diagnosis, the study said.

At 10 years, survival rates for ILC and IDC are similar. For regional- and distant-stage disease, in which the cancer has spread wider in the body, ILC survival rates are lower.

ILC originates in the lobules, glands in the breasts responsible for producing milk, ACS said in an Oct. 7 statement.

“ILC tumors grow in a linear or dispersed pattern, instead of forming a lump typical of other breast cancers. This can contribute to delayed detection by patients and doctors, treatment challenges, and poorer long-term prognosis for advanced disease,” it said.

Angela Giaquinto, an ACS scientist and lead author of the study, said that while ILC makes up only 10 percent of all breast cancers, the rising number of these cases makes the disease “important to understand.”

“Also, survival rates beyond seven years are significantly lower for ILC than the most common type of breast cancer, highlighting the pressing need for prevention and early detection strategies targeting this subtype to be brought to the forefront,” she said.

Three of the researchers in the study were employed at the ACS, which receives grants from corporate and private sources.

One researcher reported a conflict of interest, having received grants from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Fashion Footwear Association of New York, and biotech company Genentech. Another researcher received grants from Genentech/Roche, Puma Biotechnology, and pharmaceutical company Eisai.

According to a Sept. 22 post by the CDC, risk factors for breast cancer include things that people can change and some that they can’t.

Changeable risk factors include being physically active, consuming less alcohol, reducing hormone intake, and reducing weight.

Risk factors that are not changeable include genetic mutations, having dense breasts, a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and old age.

On Sept. 25, the Food and Drug Administration announced it had approved a new therapy for advanced breast cancer—Imlunestrant from Eli Lilly.

The therapy, expected to be made available in the United States over the coming weeks, is set to have a price tag of $22,500 per 28 days for the 400 milligram dose.

According to a 2024 survey, women who delayed mammograms typically had low breast cancer risk and were concerned about overdiagnosis and the resulting harms.

“Commonly stated reasons for delaying screening included lack of family history, low cancer risk, and concern about screening harms,” the study authors said.

Although mammography can save lives through early detection, it also comes with certain risks, including false positives, unnecessary biopsies, and overdiagnosis, with false positives being quite common.

The survey discovered that 239 out of 1,000 women who did breast cancer screenings between 40 and 49 years of age received a false positive result.