Breast Cancer Facts

Breast Cancer DOES NOT discriminate. It does not care about your race, age, job, or income. Although it is mostly found in women, a small percentage of men can and do get breast cancer. This makes the combination of education, early detection and early treatment the best defense for both men and women. When breast cancer is found at a very early stage, the chances of survival are greatly increased. This makes early detection of breast cancer one of the most important ways of fighting the disease itself.

• In 2019, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the U.S. as well as 62,930 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
• 62% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at a localized stage, for which the 5-year survival rate is 99%.
• This year an estimated 41,760 women will die from breast cancer in the U.S.
• Although rare, men get breast cancer, too. The lifetime risk for U.S. men is about 1 in 1,000.
• An estimated 2,670 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year in the United States and approximately 500 will die.
• 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers.
• There are over 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
• On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States.
• Female breast cancer represents 15.2% of all new cancer cases in the U.S.

 (Source: NationalBreastCancer.org)

Approximately 30% of breast cancer cases can be attributed to known risk factors. Risk factors do not necessarily cause cancer; they suggest a suspected association. Having one or more risk factors does not mean that a woman will develop breast cancer. However, having no risk factors for the disease does not mean a woman is protected. The current known risk factors for developing breast cancer are:

• Being a woman

• Having a mother, grandmother or sister who has had breast cancer, particularly if the cancer appeared before menopause

• Bearing the 1st child after the age of 30

• Never bearing a child

• Smoking

• Being over the age of 50

• Having a history for a previous cancer such as uterine or ovarian

• Having a diagnoses of a typical hyperplasia or benign breast disease with hyperplasia