Breast cancer rates in Alaska Natives stabilize
Published Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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Stumble It!ANCHORAGE -- The unexplained increase in breast cancer rates among Alaska Native women may finally be leveling off.
Breast cancer rates have been rising among Alaska Natives for three decades, tripling between 1969 and 1998.
Breast cancer was once relatively rare among Alaska Native women, but now matches the rate for white women nationwide.
It also exceeds by half the rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives who live in the Lower 48.
The incidence of breast cancer rose sharply among Alaska Native women toward the end of the 20th century from 40 cases per 100,000 in the early 1970s to 138 cases per 100,000 in the mid 1990s.
The rate fell slightly to 132 cases from 1999 to 2004.
Janet Kelly, an epidemiologist with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, says "I think you'd be hard-pressed to say there's anything (like a decline) going on yet."
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