Rural women face higher death rates for breast cancer—and the gap is widening
· Medical Xpressby Dennis Thompson
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Women from rural locales are becoming less and less likely to survive a bout with breast cancer, a pair of new studies from the American Cancer Society show. Breast cancer death rates are now higher in rural areas than in cities, according to a study presented at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
What's more, the breast cancer survival gap between rural and urban women has nearly tripled in recent years, according to another study presented at the same meeting.
"What stands out is not simply that women in rural communities experienced worse breast cancer survival, but that the gap widened over time," said Jingxuan Zhao, principal scientist of health services research at the American Cancer Society and lead researcher of the second study.
"At a time when breast cancer detection and treatment have improved substantially, our findings raise concern that the benefits of those advances may not be reaching women in rural communities," Zhao said in a news release.
The first study found that breast cancer death rates in rural regions exceeded those in metropolitan areas between 2018 and 2023, based on data from U.S. cancer registries and federal health agencies.
That's a reversal from 1995 to 1999, when rural women were less likely to die from breast cancer than their urban counterparts, according to results from a team led by Xuesong Han, scientific director of health services research at the American Cancer Society.
The second study went even further, tracking more than 2.8 million women 18 and older diagnosed with breast cancer between 2010 and 2023. The team compared survival among those living in cities, towns and rural areas.
Results showed that women in rural areas had a 9.3% higher rate of breast cancer death in 2017 to 2023, up from 3.4% higher in 2010 to 2016.
"Women living in rural areas often face longer travel distances, fewer oncology specialists and more limited access to screening, diagnosis and treatment services," Zhao said.
Zhao said changes in the health care landscape could improve outcomes.
"Strengthening rural health care infrastructure, reducing travel barriers and improving access to cancer care could help ensure more women benefit from advances in breast cancer treatment," Zhao added.
The barriers faced by patients are a growing concern, experts said.
"The challenges patients living in rural areas face with accessing cancer preventive and treatment services must be addressed," said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, ACS' advocacy affiliate, in a news release.
"We urge lawmakers to support policies that help improve access to comprehensive, affordable health insurance and require health plans to maintain strong networks, so that patients can access the health care professionals and treatments they need, no matter where they live."
Lacasse added, "Your ZIP code shouldn't determine your cancer outcome."
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Sadie Harley
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