Breast Cancer Awareness Month: 3 Reasons Behind The Rise, Including Some You Can Control

There's a troubling rise in breast cancer in women under the age of 50, but there are things you can do to help lower your risk.

A recent American Cancer Society report found breast cancer rates in this age group have increased 1.4% every year from 2012 to 2021. Since 2000, Asian American and Pacific Islander women of any age have seen the largest uptick, with a 2.5% to 2.7% increase per year. 

CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook says a lot of this rise is in the kinds of breast cancer fueled by estrogen. 

"What the researchers have noticed is that periods in young girls are starting at an earlier age, and women are tending to delay their first child, so that's more cycles, and more cycles is more surges of estrogen, and potentially that's fueling it," LaPook said on "CBS Mornings Plus" Tuesday, "We also have obesity. There's an enzyme called aromatase fat that converts testosterone to estrogen, so another reason for increased estrogen."

LaPook also spoke with Rebecca Siegel, senior author of the American Cancer Society's report, who pointed to alcohol as another factor behind why we're seeing increases. 

"There's been a binge in alcohol drinking in women in their 30s and 40s, and alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer," LaPook said. "About 16% of all breast cancers are from alcohol."

The reasons behind the increases for Asian American and Pacific Islander women are not as well understood, LaPook added.

"That group had a low risk and now, wham, they're right up to where White women are," he said. "There's a big study going on in UC San Francisco that's looking into this. And as in the past, we see huge disparity in outcome in Black women. And again, that's something that has been the subject of a lot of research."

In order to to better understand cancer disparities, risk and outcomes, the American Cancer Society launched the VOICES of Black Women study earlier this year, which aims to enroll over 100,000 Black women in the U.S.

The latest report did have some good news, though.

"Over the last 33 years — 44% decrease in mortality from breast cancer. That's more than a 500,000 deaths that have been prevented," LaPook said. 

The American Cancer Society attributes this encouraging shift to advances in early detection and treatment.

Unfortunately, not all women have benefitted equally, and for Native American women there has been no decrease. 

"Women today are a lot less likely to die from breast cancer, but alarming disparities still remain, especially for Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American and Black women," Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, said in a news release about the report. "These gaps need to be rectified through systematic efforts to ensure access to high-quality screening and treatment for every woman."