Breast cancer is surging among Asian American women — and scientists don’t know why
Breast cancer is rising rapidly among Asian American women, with some of the most alarming increases occurring in younger women and in aggressive or advanced cancers. Researchers say screening alone can't explain the surge, suggesting important risk factors may still be undiscovered.
A recent UC San Francisco-led study has unveiled a rapid surge in invasive breast cancer cases among Asian American women over the past two decades, with rates growing faster than any other U.S. ethnic group. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, discovered that the incidence of breast cancer rose by more than 3% annually across nearly every Asian American ethnic group, with the most significant increases among Chinese and Vietnamese women.
Even Native Hawaiian women, who generally have high breast cancer rates, saw a slower increase of about 1% per year. Researchers emphasize that the trend is particularly alarming for younger women and those diagnosed with advanced or aggressive breast cancers, such as triple-negative breast cancer, which saw a yearly increase of over 6% among Chinese American women between 2017 and 2022.
The study's senior author, Scarlett Lin Gomez, PhD, stresses the importance of tailoring healthcare to the diverse Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations, as the data suggests that risk factors may differ among various subgroups. While lifestyle factors and reproductive patterns are being explored, the study authors acknowledge that unidentified risk factors may be contributing to the rapid increase, particularly among younger women.
Two UCSF-based projects, the CRANE breast cancer study and the ASPIRE cohort study, aim to further investigate the underlying causes.
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