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Facts About Breast Cancer in the United State: Year 2006

• The American Cancer Society estimates that a woman in the United States has a 1 in 8 chance of developing invasive breast cancer during her lifetime. This risk was about 1 in 11 in 1975.
• More women in the United States are living with breast cancer than any other cancer (excluding skin cancer). Approximately 3 million women in the U.S. are living with breast cancer: about 2.3 million have been diagnosed with the disease and an estimated 1 million do not yet know they have the disease.
• Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the United States and worldwide (excluding skin cancer). I 2006, it is estimated that 274,900 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed among women in the United States: 212,920 invasive breast cancers and 61,980 cases of in situ breast cancer (of which, 85% were ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)).
• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the U.S (after lung cancer); approximately 40,970 women in the U.S. died from the disease in 2006. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for U.S. women between the ages of 20 and 59, and the leading cause of cancer death for women worldwide.
• Approximately 12% of women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer die from the disease within five years; at ten years, 20% will have died. The most recent available statistics show that 40% of all women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer died from the disease within 20 years.
• Older women are much more likely to get breast cancer than younger women. Most breast cancers -- about 77% -- occur in women ages 50 and older. About 5% of all breast cancer cases occur in women under the age of 40. However, younger women who get breast cancer have a lower survival rate than older women who get breast cancer.
• Combining all age groups, white (non-Hispanic) women are more likely to develop breast cancer than black women. However, black women are more likely to die of breast cancer than white women.
• Black women have a higher breast cancer mortality rate at every age, and a lower survival rate than white women. The fiveyear survival rate for white women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer is 90% while the five-year survival rate for black women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer is only 76%.
• Between 1990 and 2002, the mortality rate for women of all races combined declined by 2.3% annually. In white women, breast cancer mortality declined by 2.4% annually. In black women, mortality declined by 1.0% annually during the same period.
• Mortality has declined faster for white women and black women under the age of 50 than for those ages 50 and over.
• The current methods of treatment in use in the United States are: surgery (mastectomy and lumpectomy), radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biologic therapy (e.g. monoclonal antibody therapy).
• Mammography screening does not prevent or cure breast cancer; however, it may detect the disease before symptoms occur. Breast cancer tumors can exist for six to ten years before they grow large enough to be detected by mammography. In addition, mammography is less effective in younger women than in older women.
• All women are at risk for breast cancer. About 90% of women who develop breast cancer do not have a family history of the disease.
• Factors that increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer include: older age, earlier age at first period, later age at menopause, nulliparity (having no children), later age at first full-term pregnancy, daily alcohol consumption, use of hormonal replacement therapy, postmenopausal obesity, ionizing radiation, genetic factors and family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Factors that decrease a woman’s risk of breast cancer include: breast-feeding and physical activity (exercise).
• Although scientists have discovered some risk factors for breast cancer, the known risk factors account for only a small percentage (~ 30%) of breast cancer cases. There are no proven interventions to prevent breast cancer and there is no cure.

This information was compiled by the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), a grassroots organization dedicated to ending breast cancer through action and advocacy.