Breast Cancer Facts

•	Nutrition
•	Fitness
•	Workplace Health
•	Weight Management

•	Men's Health
•	Children's Health
•	Women's Health
•	Seniors' Health
•	More

•	Diseases and Conditions
•	Drug Resource Center
•	Medical Dictionary

•	Addiction
•	Allergy
•	Alzheimer's Disease
•	Anemia
•	Arthritis
•	Asthma
•	Breast Cancer
•	Cancer
•	Cholesterol
•	Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
•	Chronic Pain
•	Dementia
•	Depression
•	Diabetes
•	Digestive
•	Digestive-Tract Cancer
•	Ear, Nose And Throat Disorders
•	Epilepsy
•	Eyes
•	Glaucoma
•	Feet
•	Hair Loss
•	Headache
•	Heart and Circulatory
•	High Blood Pressure
•	HIV/AIDS
•	Impotence
•	Infertility
•	Kidney Disease
•	Low Back Pain
•	Lyme Disease
•	Memory Loss
•	Mental Health
•	Multiple Sclerosis
•	Osteoarthritis
•	Pregnancy
•	Prostate Cancer
•	Rheumatoid Arthritis
•	Sexual And Reproductive Health
•	Sexually Transmitted Diseases
•	Skin Cancer
•	Sleep
•	Stroke
•	Stress
•	Weight Management

Breast Cancer Facts

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. About every three minutes, a woman somewhere in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer.

In 2011, an estimated 230,480 new cases will be diagnosed in American women. About 2,140 cases will be detected in men. Breast cancer is second leading cause of cancer death in women; lung cancer is number one. In 2011, approximately 39,520 women and 450 men will die of the disease.

An individual woman's odds of developing breast cancer depends on her age, as well as other specific risk factors, such as ethnicity, genetics and hormonal factors, including the age of menstruation and menopause. Statistics show that an American woman living to the age of 85 has a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer sometime in her life. The risk is not evenly spread over a women's lifetime. For example, a 25-year-old woman has a lifetime risk of one in eight, but her current risk is only one in 19,608.

Here's how a woman's chance of developing breast cancer changes with age:

By age 40	.........	1 in 217
By age 50	.........	1 in 53
By age 60	.........	1 in 22
By age 70	.........	1 in 13
By age 80	.........	1 in 9

More than three in four cases of breast cancer occur in women older than 50.

Annual screening mammography allows breast cancer to be detected at an earlier stage when it is smaller. Most experts still agree that women 50 years and older should continue to have annual mammograms. The American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute continue to recommend screening beginning at age 40.

Last updated September 08, 2011

Printer-friendly format

Send this page to a friend

1996-2013. Aetna Inc. All rights reserved. All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before starting a new fitness regimen. Use of this online service is subject to the disclaimer and the terms and conditions. External website links provided on this site are meant for convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement. These external links open in a different window. The Aetna InteliHealth website subscribes to the HONcode principles of the Health On the Net Foundation. "InteliHealth" and "The Trusted Source" are trademarks of Aetna Inc.