Breast Cancer Statistics

Of all the many types of cancer discovered up to this date, none is more common than breast cancer, especially with women. Statistics show that the average woman has a chance of 1 to 8 to suffer from a form of breast cancer for the duration of her lifetime, which translates into an incredible 13% out of the global woman population.

In the United States alone, each year brings around 200 000+ new cases of breast cancer, which is an extremely high rate when compared to say, a few decades ago. Actually, North America holds the regrettable record for this disease, mainly because of the unbalanced diets and lifestyles that women have in this area.

Over the last few decades, breast cancer occurrence has grown to alarming levels. Although at the threshold of the new millennia this rate has toned down a bit, the 80s and 90s saw the highest increase in breast cancer occurrence. Some say that this rate has always been high but because of the increase in popular knowledge regarding breast cancer, these statistics have gone up to (a viable theory in itself). Even so, no one can deny the fact that the modern society enforces a quite disturbed lifestyle and diet, which are two of the main causes for breast cancer.

In contrast to popular belief, breast cancer does not only appear with women. Men can also be sufferers of this disease, although the chances of a man suffering from breast cancer are around 100 times less than with women. Aproximatively 3,000 are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, so in order to give out a clear view on the difference between genders in this case, comparing this number to the number of women being diagnosed with the same disease is a good idea.

Not only are many women diagnosed with the condition each year, but also breast cancer has progressively grown up to become one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, next to lung cancer. Each year only in the United States , around 40.000 women suffering from breast cancer die, a horrifying number that emphasizes on the power of this disease. The death rate has been a lot higher, but with the help of the new advances in surgery and breast cancer treatment, it has been constantly declining. Early detection and popular awareness are also two factors that played a major role in death rate reduction, although it remains at a high level.

The Following are the some of the Breast Cancer Statistics.

Breast cancer is the second biggest reason of death by cancer 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 the year 2000 alone, 202,044 women in North America were diagnosed with a new case of breast cancer. Also in the year 2000, 51,184 North American people died because 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 a mere 1 in 2,212.
The 5-year endurance rate for women under age 45 for breast cancer is 81 percent.
Roughly 77 percent of all breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women that are 50 years of age or older.
Few realize that breast cancer can occur in men as well. While nowhere near as prevalent in men, a projected 1,860 males will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
Those with white, Hawaiian, or African American ancestry face the highest risk of breast cancer. 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 suggested for them to get a mammogram yearly. However, 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 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 yearly mammogram; it is an important and necessary process for those who are high in risk for breast cancer.

Simply reading these numbers and statistics, most of them taken solely for the United States , will shed a new light on breast cancer and its magnitude. The last few years however have witnessed huge leaps in what regards popular awareness about the subject, which gives out hope that these numbers will go down in the near future.