11 Facts about Breast Cancer

  1. Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts from cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that may invade surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body.
  2. Most breast lumps are benign (meaning non-cancerous), abnormal growths in the breast that are not life-threatening and do not spread. However, a benign tumor increases a women’s risk of getting breast cancer.
  3. Women living in North America have the highest rate of breast cancer in the world. It is estimated that in 2008 about 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States.
  4. Breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer among American women.
  5. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.
  6. At this time, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
  7. Over the past several years, the number of deaths caused by cancer has decreased, most likely because it has become easier to detect cancer earlier and scientists have developed technology that is more effective.
  8. A woman has a 1 in 8 chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life. She has a 1 in 33 chance of dying from breast cancer.
  9. The disease occurs almost entirely in women, but men can get it, too. An estimated 2,030 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
  10. The most common type of breast cancer is called “invasive ductal carcinoma” (IDC), which starts in a milk passage or duct in the breast, and eventually breaks through the wall of the duct and spreads to other tissue in the breast. This cancer can then spread to other parts of the body and accounts for 80% of invasive breast cancer.
  11. White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are African-American women, but African-American women are more likely to die of this cancer.

    12. To fight breast cancer and support research and survivors, click here.

    Sources:

    The American Cancer Society

    Susan G. Komen for the Cure

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