Breast Cancer Statistics

Breast cancer statistics show that 13.2 percent of women born today may be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives -- and this risk has been increasing since the 1970s. When considering breast cancer statistics, remember that individual differences in people mean that just because the risk is growing, this doesn't mean that a person definitely will or will not get breast cancer.

 

An Overview of Breast Cancer Statistics

Women in the United States get breast cancer more than any other type of cancer, except for skin cancer. Each year, more than 211,000 American women learn they have breast cancer and about 40,000 will die from breast cancer. Currently, more than 2 million women alive today have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
 
Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in women. While men may develop breast cancer, it is relatively rare (see Male Breast Cancer).
 

Breast Cancer Statistics: Age at Diagnosis

From 1998 to 2003, the median age at breast cancer diagnosis was 61 years of age. The percentages of people diagnosed with breast cancer based on age were as follows:
 
  • 0.0 percent were diagnosed under age 20
  • 1.9 percent between 20 and 34
  • 10.6 percent between 35 and 44
  • 22.1 percent between 45 and 54
  • 22.8 percent between 55 and 64
  • 20.4 percent between 65 and 74
  • 16.8 percent between 75 and 84
  • 5.4 percent 85+ years of age.
     
(Breast Cancer Statistics Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD