Too Many Lives Still Lost to Breast Cancer in California.

2001 FEB 8 - (NewsRx.com) -- Despite advances in early detection and treatment for breast cancer, too many women in California are still losing their lives to the disease.

Although nearly 15,000 California women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 will still be alive 10 years from now because of early detection and treatment, nearly 6,000 women who are diagnosed in 2001 will die during this decade, the January 18, 2001, report to the University of California Board of Regents noted.

The statistics and analysis of the "Status of Breast Cancer in California" was presented by Marion Kavanaugh-Lynch, California Breast Cancer Research program, a UC systemwide effort.

"The information tells us that early detection alone will not conquer breast cancer. We must continue to work towards a prevention and cure. There is still much work to be accomplished in understanding this disease," Kavanaugh-Lynch told the regents. "Breast cancer continues to rob women of their health, their productivity and their lives," she added.

In 2001, an estimated 180,000 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 20,000 women will be diagnosed with the disease in California, according to Kavanaugh-Lynch.

"The number of women stricken with breast cancer [in 2000] is equivalent in number to the entire student body of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The number that will die within 10 years is equal to the entire incoming freshman class," explained Kavanaugh-Lynch.

In general, mortality rates reflect the stage of the disease when it was first detected. Women whose cancers are detected early have a much better chance of surviving than women with more advanced cancers, Kavanaugh-Lynch said.