Breast Cancer Decline

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers know breast cancer rates declined significantly after reports in 2002 linking hormone replacement therapy with a higher risk of the disease.

Now a new study out of the Northern California Cancer Center suggests more of this decline occurred in richer and more urban areas, and they point to greater news coverage of the breast cancer-hormone therapy link in those communities as one reason why.

A report issued in 2007, for example, correlated the number of news articles on the link with urban residence and a greater likelihood women would either stop using hormone therapy or never begin it in the first place.

Overall, the study shows breast cancer incidence fell by nearly 14 percent in urban women compared to about 7 percent in rural women. Counties with a high poverty rate saw about a 9 percent decline versus around a 13 percent decline in counties with low or middle levels of poverty.

"Understanding what specific populations were involved in the breast cancer declines helps us to better plan prevention efforts for the future, especially with the aging of the baby boomer population into prime breast cancer age,” study author Christina Clarke, Ph.D., was quoted as saying."

SOURCE: BMC Medicine, published online June 25, 2009