Health · Medical Research · 3 hrs ago
Breast cancer patterns vary among ethnic groups in Singapore
Studies in Singapore have found differences in breast cancer subtypes among Chinese, Malay and Indian women.
Chinese women appear more likely to have hormone receptor-positive cancers, while Malay and especially Indian women appear more likely to have triple-negative cancers.
Asian women also tend to have denser breasts, which can make cancer harder to detect on screening.
Some research finds HER2-positive breast cancer is more common among Asian women than Caucasian women, but targeted treatments can now treat it effectively.
Doctors base treatment on each tumour’s features, not on a patient’s ethnic group.
Breast cancer risk and behaviour can also be shaped by genetics, reproductive history, lifestyle and environmental factors.
Researchers say Singapore’s population can help improve understanding, screening and healthcare planning, while the same accepted diagnostic and treatment methods continue to apply.
Studies in Singapore have found differences in breast cancer subtypes among Chinese, Malay and Indian women.
Chinese women appear to have a higher proportion of hormone receptor-positive cancers, while Malay and especially Indian women appear to have a somewhat higher proportion of triple-negative cancers.
Doctors say ethnicity alone cannot predict how an individual breast cancer will behave or determine treatment.
Genetics, reproductive history, lifestyle and environmental factors also influence breast cancer risk and tumour biology.
- Who
- Chinese, Malay and Indian women in Singapore. Doctors and researchers have studied differences in their breast cancer patterns.
- What
- Studies found that the distribution of breast cancer subtypes varies among these groups. Doctors say treatment is based on the individual tumour, not ethnicity.
- When
- The article was published on 27 October 2026. The studies’ dates are not stated.
- Where
- Singapore.
- Why
- Breast cancer patterns may vary between populations, but risk and tumour biology are influenced by many factors, including genetics, reproductive history, lifestyle and environment.
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- Groups studied
- Chinese, Malay and Indian women in Singapore
- Chinese women
- Appear to have a higher proportion of hormone receptor-positive breast cancers
- Malay and Indian women
- Appear to have a somewhat higher proportion of triple-negative breast cancers
- HER2-positive breast cancer
- Around 19 per cent among Asian women, compared with 14 per cent among Caucasian women
- Invasive ductal carcinoma
- Around 70 to 80 per cent of invasive breast cancers worldwide
What people are saying
However, treatment decisions are based on the characteristics of the individual tumour and not what type of cancer is more common in a patient’s ethnicity.
These local patterns are important for research, screening and healthcare planning, but they do not make breast cancer in Singapore a different disease
Singapore gives us an interesting opportunity to study this because of our multi-ethnic population.
We do see differences in breast cancer characteristics and outcomes between ethnic groups, but ethnicity alone cannot predict how a breast cancer will behave.