Native Hawaiian women have the highest breast cancer incidence rate of any group in the United States, a finding that emerged only when researchers separated cancer statistics that federal and clinical reporting normally combine into one category.
The number is not small. Native Hawaiian women's breast cancer incidence runs 27 percent above the rate for White women and 57 percent above the rate reported when Asian American and Pacific Islander women are counted together. For years, that combined figure has looked reassuring, which is exactly the problem.
