From 2020 to 2021, the number of patients with breast cancer increased by 15 percent. This corresponds to 567 women. This increase may be due to the fact that more and more women are going for mammography screening.
The mammography program was discontinued as part of the national epidemic control measures in relation to Govt-19. Some were screened later, and fewer cancer cases were diagnosed.
On Wednesday, the Cancer Register presented a report showing that 36,998 new cancers were reported last year. This is 4.2 percent more than in 2020, and a bigger increase than in recent years.
Closed mammography program
From 2019 to 2020 the incidence of breast cancer was in women aged 50-69 years. The mammography program was closed for a few months in the spring of 2020. In the fall, some started screening again, while others did not. But to catch up, activity increased last year.
– Kiske Ursin, director of the Cancer Registry, explains that most centers are now up to date.
Overall, 10 percent more women were invited to the screening in 2021 than in 2019.
– One of the reasons for the increase in the number of breast cancer cases from 2020 to 2021 is that more women were called for mammography and screened in 2021 than the previous year, says Ursin.
The goal of the mammography program is to diagnose breast cancer at an early stage. The Cancer Register hopes this will help reduce mortality.
Today’s statistics show that there is an increase in the number of breast cancer cases in women aged 70-79 and over 80 years.
– We have already guessed that many women continue to go for screening even after leaving the mammography program.
– What are the consequences for women who do not go for mammography and who may have made a late diagnosis?
– It is important to diagnose breast tumors in the breast at an early stage. We do not yet have the full effect of the infection on the diagnosis of breast cancer. From previous studies we know that tumors become more severe when screening is postponed, Kiske Ursin responds.
Nearly 37,000 new cancers in 2021
Giske Ursin explains this increase in part by saying that the figures for 2020 are lower than expected.
– 2020 is a special year where infection control measures have impacted the diagnosis of cancer, he says.
There is an increase in many cancers. Including breast, ovarian and lung cancer in women and melanoma in men.
The director of the Cancer Registry emphasizes that ovarian and lung cancers are cancers with poor prognosis and therefore it is important to detect them early to remove the cancerous tumor.
More people are escaping cancer than ever before
By the end of 2021, there will be 316,000 people diagnosed with cancer or surviving cancer in Norway.
This is 100,000 more than it was ten years ago. The background to these statistics is complex, and is partly due to the fact that the cancer was diagnosed earlier before it could be treated more effectively, and to some extent to new and better treatment with more personalized medicine.
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