Early detection is key to survival. If breast cancer is found and diagnosed while still confined to the breast, the 5-year survival rate is more than 90 percent. 

Timely screening mammograms could prevent 15 to 30 percent of all deaths from breast cancer in women over age 40.    

Risk Factors

• The most proven and significant risk factors for getting breast cancer are female and getting older.
• Approximately five to ten percent of breast cancers are due to heredity. The majority of women with breast cancer have no known significant family history or other known risk factors.
• Women with BRCA1 mutations are estimated to have a 65 percent risk for developing breast cancer by age 70; the corresponding risk for BRCA2 is 45 percent.  

Incidence

• Except for skin cancers, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women.
• Breast cancer accounts for more than 1 in 4 cancers diagnosed in women in the United States.
• One woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes, and one woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes in the United States.
• An estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2008.
• In addition to invasive breast cancer, 67,770 new cases of in situ breast cancer are expected to occur among women during 2008. Of these, about 85 percent will be ductal carcinoma in situ.
• An estimated 1,990 new cases (1 percent of all breast cancers) of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2008.

Mortality

• Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths among women.
• An estimated 40,480 women will die from breast cancer in 2008.
• An estimated 450 men will die from breast cancer in 2008.
• Breast cancer death rates have been decreasing since 1990. Decline in mortality likely due to improvements in treatment and early detection. 

Survival

• Currently, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors alive in the United States today.
• The relative survival rates for women diagnosed with breast cancer are:  89% at 5 years after diagnosis; 81% after 10 years, 73% after 15 years.
• The relative survival rates for women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 40 are: 82% for women younger then 40, 89% for women aged 40 and older.
• For all races, the five-year survival rate for women with localized breast cancer (cancer that has not spread to lymph nodes or other locations outside the breast) has increased from 80 percent in the 1950s to over 95 percent (98 percent) in 2007.

National Breast Cancer Disparities

• White women have the highest breast cancer incidence rate (140.8 cases per 100,000 women) in the United States.
• African American women have the highest breast cancer mortality rate nationally (35.9 deaths per 100,000 women). 
• The disparity in breast cancer death rates between African American and white women began in the early 1980's and by 2004, death rates were 36 percent higher in African Americans than in white women.  
• Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Hispanic women; an estimated 14,300 Hispanic women will be diagnosed in 2006 and an estimated 1,740 deaths from breast cancer are expected to occur among Hispanic women during 2006.
• Breast Cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women. Hispanic women are about 20 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than non-Hispanic white women who are diagnosed at a similar age and stage.
• Low-income women have lower screening rates, are 41 percent more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer and are three times more likely to die from breast cancer.
• Uninsured women are more likely to receive a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis and are 30 to 50 percent more likely to die from the disease than women with insurance.

Breast Cancer in Arizona

• Breast cancer is the leading cause of death and the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women.
• An estimated 2,800 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.
• Approximately 600 women will die of breast cancer this year.
• White women will have the highest incidence rates, but African-American women will have the highest mortality rates.
• Nearly 20% of Arizona residents are uninsured.

Breast Cancer Programs in Arizona

• The Well Woman Health Check program provides free mammograms and early detection services to uninsured and low-income women. Well Woman Health Check receives $2,236,262 from CDC through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. The state provides about $1.3 million in funding, and approximately $275,000 is funded through private organizations with Komen being the largest donor.
• To be eligible, a woman must be a resident, between 40 and 64, and her income must be between 100% and 250% of the poverty line.