Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.
About 215,990 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2004. About 40,110 women will die from the disease this year. Right now there are slightly over 2 million women living in the US who have been treated for breast cancer.
The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is about 1 in 7. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 33. Breast cancer death rates are going down. This decline is probably the result of earlier detection and improved treatment.
American Cancer Society website: http://www.cancer.org
