Breast cancer rate plunged 7 pct. in '03

Excellent! A very steep drop after years of increases.

SAN ANTONIO - U.S. breast cancer rates plunged an unprecedented 7 percent in 2003, the year after millions of women stopped taking menopause hormones when a study showed the pills raise the risk of tumors.

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Cases dropped most among women 50 and older — the age group taking hormones. The decline was biggest for tumors whose growth is fueled by estrogen — the type most affected by hormone use.

You would think this would immediately be big HUGE news. After all, everyone knew about the big study that was suddenly pulled and all those women dropping HRT like hot potatoes. But this wasn't the case.

When the 2003 numbers were first released a few months ago, they were grouped with 2001 and 2002 and portrayed as a leveling off of breast cancer after decades of steady rise. The big single-year drop was not pointed out.

"You don't want to overinterpret one point" without knowing whether it is a trend, said Kathy Cronin, a National Cancer Institute statistician who worked on the new analysis.

I'd take her words at face value, except for the fact that we've all seen too much statistics manipulation over the years. Environmentalists use this all the time - fix the stats so they don't show any improvement - keep people worked up by saying things aren't improving we have to work harder (ie. donate more money).

A culture of doom and gloom in this country keeps us from even attempting to celebrate victories. This is a victory. Many women are not going to have to go through the torture of treating cancer. Many women will live to see their grandchildren grow up. As Pam notes:

While there are more Red Hatters waxing their upper lips and sweating profusely in the checkout lane, there are also more of us to spoil our grandchildren.

I think news like this should be shouted from the rooftops. After all - women want to know what they are doing is making a difference! It's nice to know that once in a while we win and things improve.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 01:37 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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