Indicators:  Human Health

Breast Cancer in Connecticut

Connecticut has the third highest incidence of breast cancer among the 50 states, but has seen improvement since a peak in the late 1990s.

Of every 100,000 women in the state aged 50 to 54, a number will discover each year that they have breast cancer. That number is depicted in this graph. (The council presents data on this one age group, rather than on the entire female population, to control for factors such as changes in the average age of the larger population; age 50 to 54 was selected as a representative age group and is used in each year’s report.) To minimize year-to-year fluctuations, groups of years are averaged together. (In other words, each data point on the graph shows the number of new cases in a single year, but that year is actually the average of five to six years.) While some breast cancers are linked to genetic factors, most are associated with non-genetic factors including diet, reproductive history, lifestyle, and external agents. There are numerous studies connecting certain chemicals and other environmental factors to breast cancer. These factors, if significant, do not appear to be as important statistically as a woman's own reproductive history, but it is important to note that breast cancer rates vary greatly in different parts of the country. Among the fifty states and Washington, D.C., Connecticut has the third highest incidence of breast cancer.(Source: American Cancer Society) There is little doubt that some of the increase since 1980 is attributable to better detection methods. But better detection, which might save lives by allowing for earlier treatment, cannot be responsible for all of the apparent increase in new cases. In 2000 through 2005 (the most recent years for which data are available), the rate of new cases showed improvement.