December 2023, Newsletter
Supervisors push early detection in fight against breast cancer
Earlier this month the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors directed County officials to expand opportunities for breast cancer screening for County residents to ensure early detection of breast cancer.
County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who authored the proposal with County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, said he hoped to see “more screenings, in more places, serving more people,” given the importance of early detection in the fight against breast cancer. Simitian specifically called out the need for additional, alternative screening technologies, particularly for women with dense breast tissue.
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), breast cancer is a leading form of cancer in women, accounting for 30% of new cancers each year and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths. Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women and have the lowest five-year relative breast cancer survival rate of any racial or ethnic group. For Hispanic women, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. In all, about 42,000 women and 500 men in the U.S. die each year from breast cancer.