How common is breast cancer?

Breast cancer accounts for 12.5% of all new annual cancer cases worldwide, making it the most common cancer in the world.  About 13% (about 1 in 8) of U.S. women are going to develop invasive breast cancer in the course of their life.

In 2023, an estimated 297,790 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in U.S. women, along with 55,720 new cases of DCIS.

In 2023, an estimated 2,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 833.

There are currently more than 4 million women with a history of breast cancer in the United States. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among U.S. women. About 30% of all newly diagnosed cancers in women each year are breast cancer.  

Did you know?

Breast cancer incidence rates in the United States began decreasing in 2000, after increasing for the previous two decades. They dropped by 7% from 2002 to 2003 alone.

One theory is that this decrease was partially due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by women after the results of a large study called the Women’s Health Initiative were published in 2002. These results suggested a connection between HRT and increased breast cancer risk. In recent years, incidence rates have increased slightly by 0.5% per year.

Breast cancer is still one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in U.S. women, second only to lung cancer.  

Source: Text: https://www.breastcancer.org/facts-statistics    Image: Canadian Cancer Society