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The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout October by highlighting some of its most recent research findings related to this disease, which is the most common and most deadly cancer type in women worldwide.
In recent years, IARC projects have shown marked disparities in breast cancer survival between populations, countries, and world regions. The latest results from the African Breast Cancer-Disparities in Outcomes (ABC-DO) cohort study, a 7-year follow-up of women diagnosed with breast cancer in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa, found that only 1 in 3 women survived for 7 years after diagnosis. Other findings from ABC-DO paint an even starker picture: women who were diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40 years had a lower survival rate than women who were diagnosed when older than 40 years, and mortality rates were particularly high in young women with breast cancer diagnosed within 3 years of giving birth.
According to IARC estimates, the number of breast cancer cases and the number of deaths from breast cancer are projected to rise globally. If current rates continue, by 2050 there will be 3.2 million new breast cancer cases and 1.1 million deaths from breast cancer per year.
To help avert this future, IARC is engaged in the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Breast Cancer Initiative, undertaking projects such as ABC-DO to quantify the problem, and projects to implement and improve breast cancer screening, such as the Ultra3-CBE project with Dharmais Cancer Hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Agency also works to improve the experience of patients with breast cancer.
Learn about these and other projects by following IARC throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month and beyond, as the Agency celebrates 60 years of cancer prevention research as part of its IARC@60 anniversary events.
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