Isles’ annual death toll from breast cancer is 125
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Wendy Martinez and Edie Ignacio-Neumiller of the Kauai Committee on the Status of Women lead walkers across Hardy Street during the Paint the Town Pink walk to raise awareness of breast cancer.
An average of 1,107 women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in Hawaii each year, with an additional 300 found with in situ breast cancer, that is, very early stage tumors that have not invaded surrounding tissues, according to the University of Hawaii Cancer Center’s Hawaii Tumor Registry.
Breast cancer kills 125 women each year in Hawaii, according to registry data from the years 2009-2013.
Native Hawaiians have the highest rate of newly diagnosed cases — 174.8 per 100,000 women — compared with Japanese (153.6), whites (153.2), Filipinos (107.4) and Chinese (91.1).
Other points:
>> Hawaii ranks sixth in the U.S. in incidence of invasive breast cancer but has the lowest mortality from the disease.
>> Invasive breast cancer incidence rates in Hawaii increased nearly 2 percent per year from 2004 to 2013.
>> Most breast cancers (73 percent) are diagnosed in early stages.
Click here to read the UH Cancer Center’s “Hawaii Cancer at a Glance” report.
