Every 2 minutes, there is a new breast cancer diagnosis.

Every 14 minutes, a life is lost to the disease.

Over 40,000 people will die this year; about 400 of them will be men.

85% of all diagnoses have no family history.

1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between ages 40 and 55.

A Snapshot of Breast Cancer

Incidence and Mortality Rate Trends

In the United States, breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Each year, a small number of men also are diagnosed with or die from breast cancer. Although the breast cancer diagnosis rate has increased, there has been a steady drop in the overall breast cancer death rate since the early 1990's.

While the incidence rate is lower for African Americans than Whites, the mortality rate is higher. Women of other racial and ethnic groups have lower incidence and mortality rates.

It is estimated that approximately $8.1 billion* is spent in the United States each year on treatment of breast cancer.

*In 2004 dollars, as reported in Brown ML, Riley GF, Schussler N, and Etzioni RD. Estimating health care costs related to cancer treatment from SEER-Medicare data. Medical Care 2002 Aug; 40 (8 Suppl): IV-104-17

Source for incidence and mortality data: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the National Center for Health Statistics. Additional statistics and charts are available at: http://seer.cancer.gov/

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