According to recent federal statistics, the rate of new breast cancer cases among women of Asian descent and American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women is rising much faster than many other racial and ethnic groups.
In 2021, about 55 out of 100,000 AAPI women under 50 were diagnosed with breast cancer. That rate exceeds that of black and Hispanic women and approaches that of white women, according to age-adjusted data from the National Institutes of Health.
In addition, there is a significant increase in pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, colon cancer, endometrial cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma among AAPI women under 50.
Despite these increases, breast cancer remains the most common cancer in this population. According to the CDC, states such as Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Hawaii and California recorded the highest age-adjusted breast cancer death rates among AAPI women between 2018 and 2023. The rate of new diagnoses in this group increased by 52% between 2000 and 2021, indicating faster growth than other ethnic and racial populations.
Researchers believe the rising cancer rates among AAPI women are due to a complex interplay of factors, including cultural changes and stressful lifestyles.
Scarlett Gomez, a lead researcher in a major study of the causes of cancer in Asian Americans and a professor at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California-San Francisco, points out that there is not enough research to pinpoint the reasons for the recent increase in breast cancer cases. It is likely due to a combination of risk factors that accumulate over time. She emphasizes research into the effects of stress, examining different sources of stress and coping mechanisms across the life course.
Veronica Setiawan, who collaborated with Gomez on the study, points out that as Asian women in the United States increasingly adopt a Western lifestyle, factors such as earlier menstruation and later birth, as well as reduced breastfeeding, may contribute to an increased risk of breast cancer.
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