Breast Cancer Statistics

Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women. For more information, visit Cancer Among Women.

In 2005 (the most recent year numbers are available)—

• 186,467 women and 1,764 men were diagnosed with breast cancer.*†
• 41,116 women and 375 men died from breast cancer.*†

†Source: U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2005 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2009. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/uscs.

*Note: Incidence counts cover approximately 96% of the U.S. population and death counts cover 100% of the U.S. population. Use caution in comparing incidence and death counts.

Top 10 Causes of Death for Women in the United States‡

The graph below shows how breast cancer compares to other common causes of death in women of all ages.

The graph shows that the top 10 causes of death for women in the United States are—

1	Diseases of heart	329,238
2	Cerebrovascular diseases	86,993
3	Lung and bronchus cancer	69,078
4	Chronic lower respiratory disease	68,497
5	Alzheimer's disease	51,039
6	Accidents (unintentional injury)	41,426
7	Breast cancer	41,116
8	Diabetes mellitus	38,581
9	Influenza and pneumonia	34,949
10	Colorectal cancer	34,949

‡Source: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program (www.seer.cancer.gov) SEER*Stat Database: Mortality – All COD, Public-Use with State, Total U.S. (1969–2005), National Cancer Institute, DCCPS, Surveillance Research Program, Cancer Statistics Branch, released February 2008. Underlying mortality data provided by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.