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Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among
women and the second leading cause of cancer death in
women today. It is expected that more than 200,000 new
cases of invasive cancer will be found among US women
in 2005 while about 40,000 women are expected to die of
the disease.
The two most prevalent risk factors for breast cancer
are gender and age: women account for 99% of all breast
cancers and the incidence increases dramatically over
the age of 50. However, younger women and men can and
do suffer from breast cancer. Women diagnosed with breast
cancer under the age of 40 are more likely to have a
genetic mutation which puts them at greater risk of
developing breast and ovarian cancer (see
The Genetics of Breast Cancer). Additionally, breast
cancer is the most common cancer in pregnant and postpartum
women, occurring in about 1 in 3,000 pregnancies.
Breast cancer in men is rare, but about 1,700 men are
expected to be diagnosed with this form of cancer each
year. Unfortunately, men typically are diagnosed at
a later stage of the disease than women because they
are less likely to report any symptoms.
African-American and Hispanic women are more likely
to die from breast cancer than other women. Several
factors are thought to contribute to this disparity,
including biological and genetic differences in tumors.
However, barriers to health care and screening, language
differences, and lack of awareness have also been implicated
in the greater mortality rates.
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Introduction
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