As the awareness of breast cancer increases, so does the availability of information on the disease to the general public. There has been much research done on the disease, which includes the statistics on its prevalence and survival rates. Below is an enumeration of these statistics.
Recent figures
Breast cancer has been proven to be the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today. It is also the most common form of cancer among women. This trend is expected to continue. Studies conducted by the World Health Organization estimate that for 2006, there will be 1.2 million women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Studies have also shown that a woman?s chance of developing breast cancer during her lifetime is about 1 out of 7 or 13.4 percent. However, breast cancer is not restricted to women. Studies also estimate that thousands of men will be diagnosed with the disease.
With regard to death rates, it is estimated that the chance that breast cancer will be the cause for a woman?s death is about 1 in 33, or 3 percent. In recent years, the incidence of breast cancer death has declined. Doctors attribute these declines to early detection and new treatments.
Figures also show that the chance of having the disease increases with age. By the age of 30, the chance of having the disease is 1 out of 2,212. For women over the age of 80, the chance increases to 1 out of 8. However, the survival rates are less for younger women because they tend to have more aggressive forms of cancer. It has also been proven that white, Hawaiian and African-American women have the highest incidence of breast cancer as opposed to their Asian counterparts who have some of the lowest incidence rates.
Studies also show that early detection increases the survival rate by as much as 96 percent, especially for those women who detect breast cancer in its first stage. However, the survival rates for patients who have had the disease decreases after five years.
These figures tell us a number of things. One of these is that the key to surviving breast cancer is early detection. Another important thing is that women need to be aware of the risks that they face and that they should take preventive measures to mitigate the effects of this dreaded disease.
Breast Cancer provides detailed information on Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Treatments, Breast Cancer Symptoms, Cause Of Breast Cancer and more. Breast Cancer is affiliated with Hodgkins Lymphoma.
