October 2017
October is Breast Health Month
U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics
About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer
over the course of her lifetime.
About 2,470 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be
diagnosed in men in 2017. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1
in 1,000.
Breast cancer incidence rates in the U.S. began decreasing in the year
2000, after increasing for the previous two decades. They dropped by 7%
from 2002 to 2003 alone. One theory is that this decrease was partially
due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by women
after the results of a large study called the Women’s Health Initiative were
published in 2002. These results suggested a connection between HRT
and increased breast cancer risk.
As of March 2017, there are more than 3.1 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This
includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.
About 5-10% of breast cancers can be linked to gene mutations (abnormal changes) inherited from one’s
mother or father. Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. On average,
women with a BRCA1 mutation have a 55-65% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. For women with
a BRCA2 mutation, the risk is 45%. Breast cancer that is positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations
tends to develop more often in younger women. An increased ovarian cancer risk is also associated with
these genetic mutations. In men, BRCA2 mutations are associated with a lifetime breast cancer risk of
about 6.8%; BRCA1 mutations are a less frequent cause of breast cancer in men.
About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur
due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than
inherited mutations.
The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (being a woman) and age (growing older).
Resource: http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics
Kate Whitman, Manager
[email protected]
614-546-4062
Marcia Cronin, Supervisor
[email protected]
614-546-4974