Breast cancer cases are rising in Bermuda and black women are more at risk because of a genetic mutation that makes their disease more dangerous.

But health experts say the spike in cases is linked to increased detection as more patients take advantage of the Island?s stellar diagnostic and treatment services.

From 1994-1998, the average incidence of breast cancer was 47.4 cases per year but this rose to 49.6 cases per year from 1999-2003, according to statistics from the Bermuda Tumour Registry.

Director of Oncology Services Dr. Kannan Thiruvengadatamy said the rise was related to the levels of screening, which he said were the highest in the region.

He also said quality of screening is some of the best in the world with mammograms, which are low intensity radiographic images, available free by appointment at both the hospital and the Bermuda TB, Cancer and Health Association.

?We also have ultrasound facilities made to compliment it and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). All three are available.?

He recommended women have an annual check up and said the disease was treatable if caught in the early stages.

?More than 70 percent are cured.? said Dr. Thiruvengadatamy who added that those who still have the disease can live for years.

A spokesperson for the Bermuda Hospitals Board cautioned that, because of the small figures in Bermuda, percentages and average changes appear greater than is realistic and needed to be put into perspective.

She said: ?Improved screening practices are leading to earlier detection of breast cancer.?

Dr. Thiruvengadatamy said early detection was vital. He agreed with US research journal ?Cancer? which said black women were more likely than white women to die of the disease even though they were less likely to develop breast cancer in the first place.

Doctors and other health experts have long assumed it was because black women seek care later and because of differences in lifestyle.

Beth Jones of the Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut and colleagues studied the breast tumours of 145 African-American and 177 white women and found significant differences in mutations in p53, a gene known for its involvement in a range of cancers.

?Breast tumours in African-American women most likely are more aggressive compared with breast tumours in white women and offer new evidence for possible racial/ethnic differences with regard to p53 alterations,? they wrote in their report.

Dr. Lisa Newman of the Breast Care Center at the University of Michigan agreed, writing in a commentary that the study ?opens the door to improved understanding of ethnicity-related variation in breast cancer risk and outcome.?

Jones? team looked at other genes involved in breast cancer and found no significant ethnic differences, said a Reuters wire news report this month.

Rachel Andrade, education officer for the Bermuda TB, Cancer and Health Association, urged women to have yearly mammograms, have a doctor or gynaecologist do an examination at least once a year and to learn how to do monthly self examinations which a doctor can advise on.

If you have questions call her on 236 0949. To book a mammogram call 236 1001.