Noteworthy Numbers

Nearly 1 in 3 cancers diagnosed in women in the United States is breast cancer.

The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis was 61 years between 2004 and 2008.

An estimated 230,480 cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed among women in 2011, as well as approximately 57,650 additional cases of in situ breast cancer.

Between 1995 and 2007, 95% of new diagnoses and 97% of breast cancer deaths occurred in women 40 years of age and older.

A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles once a first degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) is diagnosed with breast cancer.

In 2011, about 2140 cases of breast cancer occurred among men, accounting for about 1% of all breast cancers.

Although mortality rates differ by ethnicity and geography, overall breast cancer death rates decreased by 2.2% per year between 1990 and 2007.

Many factors, including age, race, and cancer stage, influence the following relative survival rates:

• 85.9% 5 years after diagnosis
• 82% 10 years after diagnosis
• 77% 15 years after diagnosis

Up from 2.5 million in 2010, there were more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the US in 2011.

Sources

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics

http://www.cancer.org/Research/Cancer FactsFigures/BreastCancerFactsFigures/breast-cancer-facts-and-figures-2011-2012