Breast cancer incidence rates in England are lower in black and South Asian women, compared with white women. Research published in the British Journal of Cancer says that the main reason for this is due to differences in lifestyle and reproductive factors.
Data from the Million Women Study showed that South Asian women had an 18% lower rate of breast cancer compared with white women, and black women had a 15% lower rate of breast cancer compared with white women.
South Asian and black women drink less alcohol and have more children than white women – and both these factors influence the risk of developing breast cancer. But when these, and other lifestyle and reproductive factors were excluded from the analysis, the risk was found to be similar for women of all ethnic groups.
