Breast Cancer Statistics

Breast Cancer Cases & Death

Breast cancer is one of the most important cause of cancer deaths in women, the second after lung cancer. It is also the most frequent cancer in women, apart from skin cancers.

The World Health Organization estimates that over 1.2 million people will get a breast cacer diagnosis this year worldwide, with approximately 211,240 women developing infiltrating breast cancer only in the United States.

About 58,490 women will get a diagnosis for breast cancer in situ.

Breast cancer can also affect men. It is estimated that there will be about 1,700 cases of breast cancer in men this year.

Breast cancer statistics have also revealed that around 40,410 women and 460 men are expected to die from a form of breast cancer only in the United States this year. The American Cancer Society estimates that 1 in 33 women will die from breast cancer.

The breast cancer incidence rate has increased by about 4 percent during the ‘80s, but decreased to 100.6 in 100 000 women in the ‘90s. The breast cancer death rate also decreased between 1992 and 1996, especially in young women. Doctors explain this decline by earlier detection and better treatments.

Although breast cancer is less common in younger women, patients who are diagnosed this disease in their thirties tend to develop more severe forms. This explains why breast cancer death rates are still higher in younger women.

Incidence By Ethnic Group

All women can develop breast cancer during their lifetime. However, the older you are, the higher the risk of developing the disease. Breast cancer statistics show that about 77 percent of all breast cancer cases affect women aged over 50.

As for breast cancer rates in different ethnic groups, here is what the National Cancer Institute reports:

• White, African-American and Hawaiian women have the highest infiltrating breast cancer rate in the United States, about 4 times higher than the lowest rateincidence of invasive breast cancer in the United States

• Korean, Vietnamese and American Indian have the lowest infiltrating breast cancer rate in the United States

• African-American women have the highest breast cancer death rate and are also most likely to detect the disease at a later stage than other ethnic groups

• African American women have the highest death rate between the first two age groups (33-54 and 55-69), while white women aged over 70 are more prone to die from breast cancer than the African American.

Staging and Survival Breast Cancer Statistics

Stages of breast cancer range from Stage 0 (very early and less severe stage) to Stage IV (metastasis). There are many factors that affect a patient’s survival rate, such as tumor characteristics, genetic background, state of health etc.

In addition, things like stress level, will to live or immune function also play a very important part in determining his/her survival.

Breast cancer statistics show that survival rates continue to decrease after five years. After ten years, survival depends on the stage of the cancer. Early stages give higher survival rates than late stages.