| SURVIVORS A woman’s chance of developing breast cancer increases with age. In the United States, a woman has about a 12 percent, or 1 in 8, lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. Breast cancer accounts for more than 1 in 4 cancers diagnosed in women in the U.S. An estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2008. An estimated 1,990 new cases (1 percent of all breast cancers) of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2008. An estimated 40,480 women will die from breast cancer in 2008. An estimated 450 men will die from breast cancer in 2008. White women have a higher incidence of breast cancer than African American women after age 40. However, African American women have a higher incidence rate before age 40 and are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age. African Americans have the highest death rate from breast cancer of any racial/ethnic group in the United States. The disparity in breast cancer death rates between African American and white women began in the early 1980s and by 2004, death rates were 36 percent higher in African Americans than in white women. African American women are less likely to survive five years than white women, 77 percent vs. 90 percent respectively. Currently, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors alive in the United States today. To meet the demands for education about breast cancer in our community, we have provided many links under education to expand you knowledge and awareness of breast cancer. If you are currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer or have just been diagnosed, we have providing links, to the left, that provide additional listing of agencies offering assistance and services nationally and locally. | |
