GRAPHS & TABLES
Screening / Mammography
In Texas in 1993, 2,400 Texas women died of breast cancer. Forty-six percent of these deaths occurred among women less than 65 years of age. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. The American Cancer Society estimates that one in nine women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.The age-adjusted* cancer mortality rate for women in Texas was 22 per 100,000 in 1988 and 24 per 100,000 in 1993. The Year 2000 objective for mammography states, ³...increase to at least 60 percent the proportion of women age 50 and older who have ever received a clinical breast exam and mammogram within the preceding one to two years². The 1994 BRFSS data shows that 55 percent of the women age 50 and older had a recent (one to two years) breast cancer screening, which means Texas is close to meeting the Year 2000 objectives.
*Adjusted to 1970 United States population.
Pap Tests
Since the introduction of Papanicolaou's ("Pap") test in the 1950s, cervical cancer mortality has been reduced by 75 percent in the United States. Still, in 1993, 322 Texas women died of cervical cancer. Mortality rates are twice as high for African-American women as White women.A Texas Year 2000 objective is to reduce cervical cancer deaths among women 18 years old and older to no more than 3.3 per 100,000. The rate in 1993 was 4.9 per 100,000.
Additionally, a Year 2000 objective is to increase the proportion of women aged 18 and older "...to at least 85 percent of those who received a Pap test within the preceding one to three years". According to the 1994 BRFSS, 85 percent had a Pap test within the preceding 3 years. A racial/ethnic breakdown for those who have had a Pap test showed 84 percent for Whites, 78 percent for African-Americans, and 69 percent for Hispanics.
