Disparities in Breast Cancer Outcomes and How to Resolve Them

In the western world, breast cancer is the most common lethal cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death behind lung cancer.1 The American Cancer Society estimates that 281,550 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the United States in 2021 and approximately 43,600 women died from it.2 The median age at breast cancer diagnosis for American women is 61; 19% were younger than 50 years. In the United States, the lifetime risk of diagnosis of invasive breast cancer is about 13% (1 in 8), and lifetime risk of death is about 3% (1 in 33). It is estimated that nearly 4 million breast cancer survivors live in the United States.