Breast cancer rates below average in Montgomery County, well above in Mills

While Montgomery County’s breast cancer rate was just below the state average from 1973-2010, just a few miles west, Mills County recorded the second highest level in the state of Iowa.

With a statewide average of 118.78 diagnosis’ per 100,000 residents, Montgomery County recorded a rate of 115.22 throughout the 37-year period, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry. 

That rate increased slightly from 2006-2010 to 116.5, which placed Montgomery County 56th among Iowa’s 99 counties. Iowa’s rate during that five-year span was 123.4, slightly higher than the national rate of 119.8.

The numbers were vastly different though just a few miles west, where Mills County recorded a breast cancer rate of 130.18 since 1973. 

Only Johnson County recorded a higher rate at 131.34.

While most southwest Iowa counties finished near or below the state average in terms of breast cancer rates, Pottawattamie and Fremont, both directly north and south of Mills County, were above average with rates 126.26 and 123.13, respectively. Those numbers were the 13th and 17th highest in the state.

The good news for Mills County though is those rates have been in decline, recently. From 2006-2010, Mills County ranked 28th in the state with a rate of 125.6.

Fremont and Pottawattamie Counties remained high at second and third in the state with rates of 151.7 and 149.4, respectively. 

Top Cancer in Women

A report published by the University of Iowa indicated breast cancer was the most reported cancer in women at 27.4 percent, with lung cancer finishing second at just over 11 percent.

However, despite nearly twice as many occurrences, breast cancer deaths in women are significantly lower than lung cancer at 23.7 percent to 13.7 percent, respectively. Colon and rectum cancer caused the third most deaths in Iowa at 10.7 percent.

Statewide, breast cancer rates diagnosis increased substantially in the mid-1990s, peaking in 1998, before dropping off slightly in 2010.

However, the mortality rates, after remaining unchanged until the early 1990s, have dropped significantly from about 33 percent to just over 19 percent in 2010.

The mortality decrease is largely attributed to an increase in mammography screenings and thus earlier diagnosis. 

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancers found because they are causing symptoms tend to be larger and are more likely to have already spread beyond the breast. In contrast, breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be smaller and still confined to the breast. 

The size of a breast cancer and how far it has spread are some of the most important factors in predicting the prognosis (outlook) of a woman with this disease.

“Most doctors feel that early detection tests for breast cancer save thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women and their health care providers took advantage of these tests,” the ACS stated. “Following the American Cancer Society’s guidelines for the early detection of breast cancer improves the chances that breast cancer can be diagnosed at an early stage and treated successfully.”