Breast Cancer by the Numbers

Breast cancer death rates have been declining, thanks to increased prevention and improved treatments. Here, a look at the disease by the numbers.

Quality Health News

Breast cancer—a malignant tumor that starts from cells in the breast—is the most common type of cancer in women, after nonmelanoma skin cancer. It's also the second leading cause of cancer death in women, following only lung cancer.

Fortunately, death rates from breast cancer have been gradually declining in recent years, thanks to increased prevention and improved treatment methods. Here, a look at the disease by the numbers:

240,500: Estimated number of new breast cancer cases that will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2007.
5 to 10: Percentage of breast cancers that occur because of inherited mutations.
$58 million: Amount of money raised to date from sales of the U.S Postal Service’s Breast Cancer Research stamp.
1 in 8: An American woman’s chances of developing invasive breast cancer in her lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute.
2,030: The estimated number of men who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.
1: Approximate percentage of total breast cancer sufferers who are male.
Nearly $1 billion: Amount that the Komen for the Cure has invested in the fight against breast cancer since its founding in 1982.
More than 100: The number of Komen Race for the Cure events held each year in the United States.
90 percent: The five-year survival rate for all women diagnosed with breast cancer.
98 percent: The five-year survival rate if the cancer is detected early and confined to the breast.