Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in the world today due to its high incidence and relatively good prognosis. An estimated 4.4 million women are alive today in whom breast cancer was diagnosed within the last five years. However, breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide.
More than 1.1 million women worldwide are newly diagnosed with breast cancer annually. This represents about 10% of all new cancer cases and 23% of all female cancers.
With more than 410,000 deaths each year, breast cancer accounts for about 14% of all female cancer deaths and 1.6% of all female deaths worldwide.
Incidence rates are climbing by as much as 5% annually in low-resource countries.
(from http://www.paho.org/english/ad/dpc/nc/pcc-bhgi-about.htm --- regional office of World Health Organization (Breast Health Global Initiative) -- accessed October 2006)
General Breast Cancer Statistics
 The biggest risk factors for breast cancer are being a woman and aging.
Every three minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer.
Breast cancer accounts for one out of every three cancer diagnoses in the US.
Over 75 percent of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are age 50 or older.
Only five to 10 percent of all breast cancers are inherited. Children can inherit an altered breast cancer gene from either their mother or father.
About 85% of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a sister or mother who has had breast cancer.
In the 1990s, breast cancer mortality declined by the largest amount in more than 40 years.
In 2004, it is estimated that about 216,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed, along with 59,390 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.
Early Detection
Mammography followed by appropriate treatment prevents thousands of deaths each year.
Over 96 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer at an early stage survive for more than five years.
Treatment and Recurrence
500,000 women are currently taking tamoxifen in the U.S.
Approximately 100,000 women complete their prescribed-course of tamoxifen therapy annually.
One third of women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer experience a recurrence. Over half of these occur more than five years after surgery.
The Food and Drug Administration has put many drugs for severe or life threatening diseases, including breast cancer, on a fast track for review and approval so that patients can gain quicker access to treatment.
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