Approximately 175,000 women and 1,300 men will be diagnosed with breast
cancer this year; 43,300 women and 400 men will die this year from the
disease.
Every 3 minutes a woman is diagnosed
with breast cancer; every 12 minutes breast cancer claims another life.
Approximately 2.6 million women
are currently living with breast cancer in the United States alone.
Today, 1 out of 9 women in the
United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime -- a risk that
in 1960 was one out of 14. This statistic should be interpreted with caution,
since it reflects a cumulative risk over a hypothetical 80-100 year life
span and had minimal relevance for a woman in her 40’s or 50’s.
Breast cancer is the most commonly
diagnosed cancer among women in every ethnic group in the United States.
Breast cancer is the leading cause
of cancer death for African-American women.
70% of breast cancer cases occur
in women who have no identifiable risk factors.
Every woman is at risk for developing breast cancer. This risk increases as
a woman ages, rising sharply after the age of 40, if she has a family
history of breast cancer and had her first child after the age of 30.
Because the cause(s) for breast
cancer are uncertain, it is impossible to predict with certainly who will
and will not develop breast cancer.
80% of all breast cancer cases
occur in women over 50 years of age.
Only 30% of all women over the
age of fifty are getting regular mammograms.
While breast cancer can be detected
at an early and treatable stage, breast cancer cannot be prevented.
By the time breast cancer is detected
in a mammogram, a woman will have already had the disease for an average
of 6 to 8 years. By the time a breast lump is found through a breast examination,
a woman will have had the disease for an average of 10 years.
Breast cancer affects a small percentage of men. The risk of breast cancer
in men also increases with age. The causes for breast cancer in men are
unknown.
When breast cancer is discovered
in men, it is usually discovered in its later stages.
