Breast Cancer
Statistics
Breast cancer is a serious disease
which should not be taken lightly by anyone. It can affect you,
your family or your friends without warning. For that reason,
it is important to learn as much as you can about the risk
factors.
Here is a list of breast cancer statistics that can help you
realize exactly how severe a problem breast cancer is in the
world today.
- Breast cancer is the second biggest cause of death in
women. It is second only to lung cancer in women's cancer
mortality rates.
- In any given year, as many as 1.2 million women on
average across the world will be diagnosed with breast
cancer. In 2003, in the United States, 181,646 women were
diagnosed with breast cancer while 41,619 women died as a
result of breast cancer.
- The risk of a woman getting breast cancer at some point
in her life is around 1 in 8. The risk for getting breast
cancer before age 30, however, is lower at 1 in
2,212.
- The 5-year survival rate for women under age 45
diagnosed in 1999-2003 for breast cancer is 72-86
percent.
- Roughly 77 percent of all breast cancer cases are
diagnosed in women that are 50 years of age or
older.
- The highest risk of breast cancer is faced by those
with white, Hawaiian, or African American ancestry. This
risk faced by these ethnicities is roughly 4 times as
prevalent as the chance faced by the lowest risk
group.
- After women reach age forty, it is highly recommended
they get a mammogram yearly. However, statistics show that
only 66.9 percent of all women over 40 have had a mammogram
in the past two years.
- Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in
a specific age group of women: 40 to 59.
- While the threat of breast cancer is still quite
serious, statistics show that the death rates of women from
breast cancer in the United States have decreased by about
2.8 percent every year from 1990 to 2000.
As you can see, breast cancer is still a problem that is
far-reaching and life-altering. Unfortunately, the statistics
do not show that a full 100 percent of women get an annual
mammogram. If you are a woman over the age of 40, it is
important to ensure that you are not one of the 33.1 percent of
women who are in the dark about the status of their breast
health. Early detection of breast cancer can lead to being able
to fix the problem before it becomes too late. Fear is never an
adequate excuse for not getting a mammogram yearly; it is an
important and necessary process for not only those who are at
high risk for breast cancer but for all women.
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