Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, 2011-2015
Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi share several traits relating to breast cancer incidence and mortality among women less than 45 years old. These relate to incidence, biological tumor markers, and mortality.
From 2011-2015, young white women in each of these states experienced lower breast cancer incidence than counterparts in the overall U.S., significantly lower in all 3 states. In contrast, black women in each state were more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than in the U.S. as a whole, but this difference was only statistically significant in Louisiana. (All U.S. incidence rates are based on data compiled by the NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.)
Table 1 shows the average annual incidence rates and number of new cases for each state.
| Table 1. Average annual incidence rates per 100,000 (case counts), breast cancer among women aged < 45, 2011-2015 |
|
White Women |
Black Women |
| Alabama |
25.1 (221) |
31.3 (119) |
| Louisiana |
25.5 (193) |
31.7 (129) |
| Mississippi |
25.0 (113) |
30.9 (99) |
| U.S. (SEER) |
27.3 |
29.0 |
| State rate is significantly lower or higher than the U.S. rate (p <= 0.05). Counts are not provided for the U.S., as the SEER sample covers only about one fourth of the population. |
One factor that indicates worse prognosis for breast cancer patients is the combination of negative estrogen receptors, negative progesterone receptors, and negative HER-2 receptors. For these women, the common chemotherapies now available will not halt the spread of their disease. Throughout the United States, black women are more likely to be “triple negative” than are white women. In the 0-44 age-group, approximately 23% of black women with breast cancer are triple negative, versus about 15% of white women. This pattern is true in each of the three Southern states. Table 2 summarizes the counts and percentages of women diagnosed with this characteristic each year in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
| Table 2. Average annual incidence counts (percentages) for triple-negative breast cancer among women aged < 45, 2011-2015 |
|
White Women |
Black Women |
| Alabama |
32 (14.5%) |
24 (19.9%) |
| Louisiana |
32 (16.6%) |
37 (28.7%) |
| Mississippi |
20 (17.6%) |
30 (30.3%) |
| U.S. (SEER) |
(15.0%) |
(23.1%) |
Mortality rates for black women are higher in Alabama and Louisiana than in the U.S. as a whole although these differences do not reach statistical significance. Mortality among white women is lower in Louisiana, but slightly higher in Alabama and Mississippi when compared to the U.S. rate; again, these differences are not statistically significant. (See Table 3 for the average annual mortality rates and counts.)
| Table 3. Average annual mortality rates per 100,000 (death counts), breast cancer among women aged < 45, 2011-2015 |
|
White Women |
Black Women |
| Alabama |
2.6 (23) |
5.0 (19) |
| Louisiana |
2.2 (17) |
5.8 (23) |
| Mississippi |
2.7 (12) |
4.6 (15) |
| U.S. (SEER) |
2.5 (1,596) |
4.8 (594) |