Women who get

regular mammograms

reduce their risk

of breast cancer death

by 63 percent.

Breast Cancer Fast Facts

 

• Every two minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. (2)

 

• This year more than 211,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected in the United States. (2)

 

• In 2006, about 40,970 women and 460 men will die from breast cancer in the United States. Death rates from breast cancer have been declining. These decreases are believed to be the result of early detection and improved treatments. (3)

 

• Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer deaths in women 55 to 74.  Breast cancer accounts for about 15 percent of all cancer-related deaths in women in the U.S. (3)

 

 

• Breast cancer incidence in women has increased from one in 20 in 1960 to one in seven today; one woman in seven who lives to age 85 will develop breast cancer during her lifetime.  (5)(2)

 

• No way to prevent breast cancer has been discovered, but treatment is most effective when a cancer is detected early.

 

• Early detection through mammography is the most promising approach for reducing the toll from breast cancer. Evidence indicates that the availability of screening mammography reduces mortality from breast cancer by 20 to 30 percent. (1)

 

• When breast cancer is found early, the five-year survival rate is 96 percent. More than two million breast cancer survivors are living in the United States today. (2)

 

  *  In 2003, 70 percent of women ages 40 and older had a mammogram within the past 2 years. (6)

 

• A clinical breast exam by a doctor should be part of a periodic health exam – about every three years for women in their 20's and 30's, and every year for women 40 and older. (4)

 

• A total of 70 percent of all breast cancers are found through breast self-exams. Not all lumps are detectable by touch; regular screening mammograms are recommended. (2)

 

• Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years. (3)

 

• Approximately 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancers can be attributed to genetic predisposition; 20 percent to 30 percent of women with breast cancer have a family member with the disease. (3)

 

 

(1) National Institute of Medicine

(2) National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF)

(3) Journal Cancer, American Cancer Society

(4) Breast Cancer Research Foundation

(5) Breastcancer.org

(6) National Cancer Institute – Cancer Progress Report