Number of new breast cancer cases and deaths per year

While breast cancer is by-and-large a curable disease, there are unfortunately still a large number of deaths due to breast cancer every year. Much will depend upon the stage at which the cancer is first detected and the age of the patient, but statistically the number of deaths due to breast cancer is about 20% to 25% of new cases annually. However, mortality rates due to breast cancer have been decreasing since the early 1990s, especially in the 50s age range.

 

  New Cases per year Deaths per year Year
France 33,000 11,000 2001
Canada 21,600 5300 2005
USA 182,000 46,000 1994
USA 225,000 40,800 2000
USA 211,240 40,410 2005

 

Taken as a ratio, new breast cancer diagnosis versus mortality rates would suggest that France has the higher survival rate, followed by Canada, then the United States. This could be due to a variety of factors, including access to and affordability of health care and better treatment options. Survival rates are also affected by how many people get screening mammograms and whether the population is generally younger or older.

 

Mortality rates per 100000 women per year, by 10 year age group

The relative mortality rate from breast cancer per 100000 women is given below. On a relative basis, the largest rate of change occurs between the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups. The increase in mortality rates in not as much for the 60-69 group, but more or less doubles for 70-79 and 80+ age groups.

 

breast cancer deaths per year per 100000 women

 

The rate of breast cancer mortality has decreased by about 25% since the early 1990s, and the main reason for this decline is participation in organized breast cancer screening programs. The greatest declines in breast cancer mortality, however, have been seen in younger women, and in women with estrogen and progesterone receptor positive tumors, probably due to improvements in adjuvant systemic therapy.

 

References

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    Québécois de Dépistage du Cancer du Sein; 2000.
  2. National Cancer Institute of Canada, Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005, Toronto, Canada.
  3. American College of Radiology, Resident Education: A Module for
    Mammography, 1997.
  4. American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts and Figures 2005 p. 4, 7, 8.
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  7. Coleman, MP., Quyaresma, M., Berrino, F., Lutz, JM., De Angelis, R. Capocaccia, R., Baili, P., Rachet, B., Gatta, G., Hakulinen, T., Micheli, A., Sant, M., Weir, HK, Elwood, JM., Tsukuma, H., Koifman, S., e Silva, GA., Francisice., S., Santaquilani, M., Verdeccia, A., Storm, H., Young, JL. Cancer survival in five continents: a worldwide population-based study (CONCORD) The Lancet Oncology, (Aug. 2008) Volume 9, Issue 8, Pages 730 - 756.
  8. Jatoi I, Chen BE, Anderson WF, Rosenberg PS. Breast cancer mortality trends in the United States according to estrogen receptor status and age at diagnosis. J Clin Oncol. (May 2007) 1;25(13):1683-90.
  9. Tabar L, Yen MF, Chen HT, Smith RA, Duffy SW. Mammography service screening and mortality in breast cancer patients: 20-year follow-up before and after introduction of screening. Lancet (2003); 361:1405–1410
  10. Humphrey LL, Helfand M, Chan BK, et al.. Breast cancer screening: a summary of the evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Review: mammography reduces breast cancer mortality rates. Evid Based Med 2003;8:45
  11. Pierce JP, Stefanick ML, Flatt SW, Natarajan L, Sternfeld B, Madlensky L, Al-Delaimy WK, Thomson CA, Kealey S, Hajek R, Parker BA, Newman VA, Caan B, Rock CL. Greater survival after breast cancer in physically active women with high vegetable-fruit intake regardless of obesity. J Clin Oncol. (Jun. 2007) 10;25(17):2345-51.
  12. Zahl, PH., Breast cancer mortality in the Swedish mammography screening program. 2010 Breast Cancer Symposium. Abstract 78.

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Copyright Steven B. Halls, MD Last edited 12-January-2011

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