Increased awareness, earlier detection through screening, and advances in treatment have led to a decline in breast cancer death rates in the United States since 1990. Sadly, breast cancer continues to claim more women’s lives than any other cancer, besides lung cancer. For more statistical data on this prevalent disease, let’s take a look at breast cancer by the numbers.
About 1 in 8 (12%) women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
In 2010, an estimated 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the United States, along with 54,010 new cases of noninvasive breast cancer.
About 1970 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2010…
Less than 1% of all new breast cancer cases occur in men. From 1999 to 2006, breast cancer incidence rates in the United States decreased by about 2% per year…
Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among US women…
More than 1 in 4 (about 28%) cancers in women are breast cancer.
Compared with African- American women, white women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer, but less likely to die of it.
A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative who has been diagnosed with breast cancer…
About 20% to 30% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have this family history although some are attributed to chance.
About 5% to 10% of breast cancers can be linked to gene mutations inherited from one’s mother or father…
Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common…
Women with these mutations have up to an 80% risk of developing breast cancer during their lifetime, and they are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age…
An increased ovarian cancer risk also is associated with these genetic mutations.
In men, about 1 in 10 breast cancers are believed to be associated with BRCA2 mutations and even fewer cases with BRCA1 mutations.
About 70% to 80% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer.
The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender and age.
In 2010, there were more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
