Breast cancer survival rate

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in the United States, diagnosed with a greater frequency than any other (non-preventable) cancer, coming in second not far behind lung cancer as one of the unfortunate scourges of humanity. In the US alone, as many as 207,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in a calendar year in the US, and as many as 39,840 women will succumb to this disease annually.

Incidence and mortality of breast cancer

The median age at diagnosis for breast cancer is 61. The disease is very rare among woman who are 34 or younger but as women age the incidence becomes greater until it peaks between the ages of 55 and 64, when approximately one-quarter of all diagnoses are made. After 64 incidence drops as age rises. Among different races, the incidence rates vary widely: 127.3 white women per 100,000, 119.9 per 100,000 black women, down to a low of 78.1 per 100,000 Hispanic women.

The median age at death calculated across all women with breast cancer, is 68.

Breast cancer survival rates by stage

Breast cancer has been the target of high-profile advocacy groups for over two decades, and while the results are not necessarily evident in the number of women who die from the disease each year, they are evident in the breadth of effective treatment options, both currently available and under development. Thanks to a wide variety of options at hand—from surgery to chemotherapy and immunotherapy and more—the disease is becoming more survivable, but only in women whose disease is caught before it has metastasized. Localized disease stages enjoy a 5 year relative survival rate of almost 99%, meaning that 99 of 100 women whose disease is discovered in early stages are expected to be alive five years later (and in cancer biostatistics, 5 disease-free years is considered 'cured'). The numbers (below) are very good for regional disease, but they continue to be rather poor for metastatic disease:

• -- Localized disease: 98.6%
• -- Regional disease: 83.8%
• -- Metastatic disease: 23.4%
• -- Stage unknown: 52.4%

Sources

National Cancer Institute SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Breast cancer

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