Who Will Be Diagnosed With Breast Cancer This Year?

Over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States this year, but no one knows who will develop breast cancer. Every woman has a risk of developing breast cancer.

Not having a family history of breast cancer doesn’t mean that a woman is safe from breast cancer! A family history of breast cancer may indicate an above average risk of developing breast cancer, but most women who develop breast cancer don’t have a family history of breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer for all women between the ages of 20 and 69 years of age. Breast cancer is the second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death among all American women. In the United States, more women die of breast cancer every year than die in automobile accidents and all other accidents combined.

Since the mid-1990’s the number of women who die each year of breast cancer in the United States has decreased every year. This is attributed to earlier detection and better treatment.

Earlier detection of breast cancer is credited with improving the survival of women with breast cancer because they receive treatment before the cancer grows larger and before cancer has a chance to spread.

Earlier detection results in a better cosmetic appearance of the breast after the cancer is treated, because less normal tissue is damaged during removal of the cancer.