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Breast Cancer Overview

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What Is Breast Cancer? TOPICS

How many women get breast cancer?

The American Cancer Society's most recent estimates for breast cancer in the United States are for 2012:

  • About 226,870 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women
  • About 63,000 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be found (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).
  • About 39,510 deaths from breast cancer (women)

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.

The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is a little less 1 in 8. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 36. Breast cancer death rates have been going down. This is probably the result of finding the cancer earlier and better treatment. Right now there are more than 2½ million breast cancer survivors in the United States.


Last Medical Review: 10/12/2011
Last Revised: 03/12/2012

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