What is Breast Cancer | Key Statistics | Risk Factors | Risk Reduction | Survival Rates

Breast cancer is a disease that can affect both women and men; however, the disease is about 100 times more common among women than men. The following is the estimated incidence and mortality rate of breast cancer estimated for the year 2009:

The remainder of the information you will read about here and in the following sections refers to breast cancer in women. If you would like additional information about Male Breast Cancer, please see our Breast Cancer Resources section for the web address of several information sites.

Other Key Breast Cancer Statistics

• Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer among women other than skin cancer
• Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer
• A woman's chance of developing breast cancer increases significantly with age.
• A woman's chance of developing breast cancer sometime in her lifetime is approximately 1 in 8
• The chance that breast cancer will be responsible for a woman's death is about 1 in 35

If detected in the earliest stages, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 98%. Today, there are over 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

In the U.S., death rates from breast cancer have been declining since 1990, due in large part to early detection by mammography screening and improvements in treatment according to the  Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts and Figures 2009 Report .

Note: Facts and Figures from the American Cancer Society .