CNN —The breast cancer death rate in the United States has dropped significantly, but Black women continue to be more likely to die from the disease despite having a lower incidence of it, according to a new American Cancer Society report. The study published this week in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians finds that in total, the death rate dropped by 43% within three decades, from 1989 to 2020, translating to 460,000 fewer breast cancer deaths during that time. When the data were analyzed by race, Black women had a lower incidence rate of breast cancer versus White women, but the death rate was 40% higher in Black women overall. In contrast, breast cancer death rates have declined steadily since their peak in 1989, the researchers found, falling 1.9% annually from 2002 to 2011 and then 1.3% annually from 2011 to 2022. The ongoing racial disparities highlighted in the new American Cancer Society report came as no surprise to Dr. Samuel Cykert, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, who has conducted research on racial disparities in cancer treatment.

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