Breast Cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer
among women worldwide.
More women in the U.S. are living with breast cancer than any other cancer,
excluding skin
cancer. Approximately 3 million women are living with breast cancer: 2.3 million
who have been diagnosed and 1 million who do not yet know they have the disease.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide,
excluding skin cancer. In 2008, an estimated 182,460 new cases of breast cancer
will be diagnosed among women in the U.S. Additionally, 1,990 U.S. men will be
diagnosed with breast cancer. In
Georgia,
an estimated 5,840 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 1,140 women in
Georgia will die from the disease.
A woman in the U.S. has a 1 in 8 chance of developing invasive breast cancer
during her lifetime.
In 1975, this risk was 1 in 11. Approximately 12% of women diagnosed with
invasive breast cancer die from the disease within five years and at 10 years
20% will have died.
Breast cancer is the
second leading cause
of cancer death among U.S. women.
In 2006, approximately 40,790 women in the U.S. will die from this disease.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for U.S. women between the
ages of 20 and 59, and the leading cause of cancer death for women worldwide.
All women are at risk for breast cancer.
About 90 % of women who develop breast cancer have no family history of the
disease.
Older women are more likely to develop breast cancer than younger women.
About 77% of breast cancers occur in women aged 50 or older. Less than 5 % of
all cases occur in women under 40; however
younger women who develop breast cancer have a lower survival
rate.
Combining all age groups, white (non-Hispanic) women are more likely to develop
breast cancer than black women. However, the breast cancer death rate is higher
among African American women than white women despite a lower incidence rate.
The five year relative survival rate for breast cancer among African American
women is 75%, compared with 89% among whites.
The following factors
increase
a women's risk for breast cancer:
Older age, earlier age at menarche, later age at menopause, having no children,
later age at first full term pregnancy, daily alcohol consumption, use of
hormone replacement therapy (HRT), use of diethyl stilbestrol (DES), menopausal
obesity, ionizing radiation, genetic factors, family history of breast or
ovarian cancer. Factors that decrease a woman’s risk of breast cancer include:
breast feeding and exercise.
Current methods of treatment for breast cancer in use in the US include:
surgery (mastectomy and lumpectomy), radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy
and monoclonal antibody therapy.
Mammography screening does not prevent or cure breast cancer, but may detect the
disease before any symptoms occur.
Breast cancer tumors can exist for six to ten years
before they grow large enough to be detected by mammography.
There is nothing a woman
can do to ensure that she will not get breast cancer and there is no cure for
breast cancer. But, there is something we can do to make a difference. Act now
to ensure that women have access to screening and treatment programs. Demand
funding for research programs that will help us find the causes of breast cancer
and bring us closer to a cure.
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