American Association for Cancer Research, April 25-30

The annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research was held this year from April 25 to 30 in Chicago, drawing approximately 20,000 participants from around the world, including scientists, cancer survivors, clinicians, allied health professionals, and industry professionals. The conference highlighted recent advances in the treatment, management, and prevention of cancer.

In one study, Adetunji Toriola, M.D., Ph.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues identified significant declines in breast cancer mortality among women aged 20 to 49 years from 2010 to 2020.

The authors evaluated data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry, including data on 11,661 breast cancer deaths among women ages 20 to 49 years between 2010 and 2020.

The researchers found that breast cancer mortality declined among women aged 20 to 49 years, with marked declines occurring after 2016. However, non-Hispanic Black women continued to experience the highest mortality rates. Women aged 20 to 39 years had worse survival compared with those aged 40 to 49 years, with a 10-year survival of 78.5 versus 87.6 percent.

“Worse 10-year survival among women aged 20 to 39 years highlights the value of population-based screening for women aged 40 to 49 years and the need to ensure targeted screening in high-risk women less than 40,” Toriola said.

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In another study, Simo Du, M.D., of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues found that women have a significantly higher risk for experiencing cancer-related fatigue (CRF) compared with their male counterparts.

The authors evaluated data from the 2015 to 2016 and 2017 to 2020 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and included 1,555 cancer survivors in the analysis.

The researchers found that women were approximately 1.5 times more likely to experience CRF compared with men. In addition, cancer survivors experiencing CRF and depression were twice as likely to reduce their participation in recreational activities, which was a key indicator of diminished quality of life. Moderate-intensity recreational physical activity was linked to an approximately 50 percent lower risk for CRF. Both moderate and vigorous recreational physical activity were associated with a twofold to fivefold reduction in depression risk among cancer survivors.