Fast Facts

Every 3 minutes someone is diagnosed with and every 13 minutes, someone dies from Breast Cancer in the US!

Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.

Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.

Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.

Approximately 1400 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2000 and 400 of those men will die.

More than 1.7 million women who have had breast cancer are still alive in the United States.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.

Not counting some kinds of skin cancer, breast cancer in the United States is—

* The most common cancer in women, no matter your race or ethnicity.
* The most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women.
* The second most common cause of death from cancer among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.1

In 2006 (the most recent year numbers are available)—

* 191,410 women were diagnosed with breast cancer.
* 40,820 women died from breast cancer.1

If you want to know more about breast cancer numbers, visit Statistics.
Can Men Get Breast Cancer?

Men can also get breast cancer. In men, breast cancer can happen at any age, but is most common in men who are between 60 and 70 years old. Male breast cancer is not very common but that doesn't mean that men should ignore changes they see or feel. For every 100 cases of breast cancer, less than 1 is in men.

Incidence

From 2003-2007, the median age at diagnosis for cancer of the breast was 61 years of age²X Close
Table I-11 (http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/ 1975_2007/results_single/ sect_01_table.11_2pgs.pdf). Approximately 0.0% were diagnosed under age 20; 1.9% between 20 and 34; 10.5% between 35 and 44; 22.6% between 45 and 54; 24.1% between 55 and 64; 19.5% between 65 and 74; 15.8% between 75 and 84; and 5.6% 85+ years of age.

The age-adjusted incidence rate was 122.9 per 100,000 women per year. These rates are based on cases diagnosed in 2003-2007 from 17 SEER geographic areas.

Trends in Rates

Trends in rates can be described in many ways. Information for trends over a fixed period of time, for example 1996-2007, can be evaluated by the annual percentage change (APC)X Close
The average annual percent change over several years. The APC is used to measure trends or the change in rates over time. For information on how this is calculated, go to Trend Algortihms in the SEER*Stat Help system. The calculation involves fitting a straight line to the natural logarithm of the data when it is displayed by calendar year. (See Fast Stats for trends over fixed time intervals) . If there is a negative sign before the number, the trend is a decrease; otherwise it is an increase. If there is an asterisk after the APC then the trend was significant, that is, one believes that it is beyond chance, i.e. 95% sure, that the increase or decrease is real over the period 1996-2007. If the trend is not significant, the trend is usually reported as stable or level. Joinpoint analysesX Close
A statistical model for characterizing cancer trends which uses statistical criteria to determine how many times and when the trends in incidence or mortality rates have changed. The results of joinpoint are given as calendar year ranges, and the annual percent change (APC) in the rates over each period can be used over a long period of time to evaluate when changes in the trend have occurred along with the APC which shows how much the trend has changed between each of the joinpoints.

Survival & Stage

SurvivalX Close
Survival examines how long after diagnosis people live. Cancer survival is measured in a number of different ways depending on the intended purpose. Several examples of survival statistics are listed below. can be calculated by different methods for different purposes. The survival statistics presented here are based on relative survivalX Close
A measure of net survival that is calculated by comparing observed (overall) survival with expected survival from a comparable set of people that do not have cancer to measure the excess mortality that is associated with a cancer diagnosis., which measures the survival of the cancer patients in comparison to the general population to estimate the effect of cancer. The overall 5-year relative survival for 1999-2006 from 17 SEER geographic areas was 89.0%. Five-year relative survival by race was: 90.2% for white women; 77.5% for black women.

The stage distributionX Close
Stage provides a measure of disease progression, detailing the degree to which the cancer has advanced. Two methods commonly used to determine stage are AJCC and SEER Summary Stage. The AJCC method (see Collaborative Staging Method) is more commonly used in the clinical settings, while SEER has strived to provide consistent definitions over time with their Local/Regional/Distant staging. is based on Summary Stage 2000. (See Fast Stats for more detailed statistics)

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Prevalence

On January 1, 2007, in the United States there were approximately 2,591,855 women alive who had a history of cancer of the breast. This includes any person alive on January 1, 2007 who had been diagnosed with cancer of the breast at any point prior to January 1, 2007 and includes persons with active disease and those who are cured of their disease. PrevalenceX Close
The number of people who have received a diagnosis of cancer during a defined time period, and who are alive on the last day of that period. Most prevalence data in SEER is for limited duration because information on cases diagnosed before 1973 is not generally available. can also be expressed as a percentage and it can also be calculated for a specific amount of time prior to January 1, 2007 such as diagnosed within 5 years of January 1, 2007. (See Fast Stats for more detailed statistics, and Overview of Prevalence Statistics for methodology)

Breast Cancer Trends

Note: The word "significantly" below refers to statistical significance. 2006 is the latest year for which data are available.
Incidence Trends

In the United States, incidence of breast cancer has—

* Decreased significantly by 2.0% per year from 1999 to 2006 among women.
* Decreased significantly by 1.5% per year from 1997 to 2006 among white women.
* Decreased significantly by 1.6% per year from 1997 to 2006 among African American women.
* Decreased significantly by 0.9% per year from 1997 to 2006 among Hispanic women.
* Decreased significantly by 1.5% per year from 1997 to 2006 among American Indian/Alaska Native women.
* Remained level from 1997 to 2006 among Asian/Pacific Islander women.

Mortality Trends

In the United States, deaths from breast cancer have—

* Decreased significantly by 1.9% per year from 1998 to 2006 among women.
* Decreased significantly by 2.0% per year from 1997 to 2006 among white women.
* Decreased significantly by 1.5% per year from 1997 to 2006 among African American women.
* Decreased significantly by 2.1% per year from 1997 to 2006 among Hispanic women.
* Remained level from 1997 to 2006 among American Indian/Alaska Native women.
* Remained level from 1997 to 2006 among Asian/Pacific Islander women.