Little is known about the risk of secondary breast cancer and where the disease spreads to other parts of the body and becomes incurable. Through their study, the researchers have provided the first reliable estimate of how many breast cancer patients may develop metastasis in contemporary cohorts and identify groups who are at higher risk. In the second part of their study, they will explore better ways in which cancer registries can collect adequate data about relapses to have a better idea of the number of patients in each country with metastatic cancer, said Dr. Shani Paluch-Shimon, a member of the Scientific Committee for ABC 6, director of the breast unit at Hadassah University Hospital in Israel, who was not involved with the research.

“It will help us identify at-risk groups across different populations and demonstrate how the disease course is changing with contemporary treatments,” she said. “It will also help us understand what resources are needed and where, to ensure we can collect and analyze quality data in real time, as this is key for resource allocation and planning future studies.”


In addition to age being a determinant in whether breast cancer spreads, certain races are also at an increased risk of developing the disease in the first place. Black women have higher rates of aggressive cancers at younger ages than white women, with treatment for those types not as effective. While current guidelines recommend women start getting mammograms biennially between 50 and 74, a recent study says that performing mammograms on Black women starting at age 40 may lead to more equitable survival outcomes for them, compared to white women who begin screening at 50.

Researchers at the University of Michigan who carried out the study found that initiating mammograms for Black women at 40 reduced mortality the greatest and decreased mortality disparities by 57%. “One of the major issues in health equity research is that disparities have been described for decades, but there has been less attention on actually rectifying disparities. Funding and other resources are needed to support research to address disparities,” said lead author Dr. Christina Hunter Chapman, adjunct assistant professor in the department of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan. She adds that policy changes on societal levels are also required.

Morgan says that understanding the factors that influence rates of recurrence can show what treatments have lower or higher risk of recurrence. She and her colleagues at the IARC are working closely with a number of cancer registries and collaborators at NCI to develop guidelines for the collection of breast cancer recurrence data.

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