Lower-income US women more likely to miss key breast cancer test, study finds

Breast cancer, one of the most common types of cancer to afflict US women, kills an estimated 40,000 Americans each year. Photograph: agefotostock/Alamy

Women who are low-income, socially isolated and lack health insurance are far less likely to be up-to-date on mammograms, a breast cancer screening tool experts said is critical to reducing breast cancer deaths, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer to afflict American women, and kills an estimated 40,000 Americans each year. Cancer overall kills 605,000 Americans a year and is the second-leading cause of death, a toll the Biden administration aims to reduce through a Cancer Moonshot initiative.