An estimated 215,990 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2004.
An estimated 1,450 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2004.
An estimated 40,110 women will die from breast cancer in 2004.
An estimated 470 men will die from breast cancer in 2004.
The 5-year relative survival rate for women with localized breast cancer (cancer that has not spread to lymph nodes or other locations outside the breast) has increased from 72 percent in the 1940s to over 95 percent in 2004.
Breast cancer is the leading cancer site among American women and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths.
One woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes, and one woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes in the United States.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women of all ages. The most proven and significant risk factors are being female and getting older.
African Americans have the highest death rate from breast cancer of any racial/ethnic group in the United States.
In addition to invasive breast cancer, 59,390 new cases of in situ breast cancer are expected to occur among women during 2004. Of these, approximately 85 percent (50,482) will be ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
Approximately five to ten percent of breast cancers are due to heredity. The majority of women with breast cancer have no known significant family history or other known risk factors.
A woman’s chance of developing breast cancer increases with age. In the United States, a woman has about a 13.4 percent, or 1 in 7, lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.
Ninety-four percent of new cases and 96 percent of breast cancer deaths reported during 1996-2000 occur in women ages 40 and older.
For the period 1996-2000, women ages 20-24 have the lowest incidence rate (1.4 cases per 100,000 population); women ages 75-79 have the highest incidence rate (499.0 cases per 100,000).
Mortality trends of breast cancer for all races are as follows:
1975-1990: Mortality rate increased by 0.4 percent per year
1990-2000: Mortality rate decreased by 2.3 percent
American Cancer Society, Surveillance Research, 2003
