Breast Cancer Health Center

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Table 3. Probability of Developing Invasive Breast Cancer Among Womena

In 2011, an estimated 39,520 women will die of breast cancer, compared with about 71,340 women who will die of lung cancer.[1] Approximately one in six women diagnosed with breast cancer dies of the breast cancer, while nearly all women with lung cancer die of lung cancer.

Breast cancer mortality increases with age. For a 40-year-old woman without a breast cancer diagnosis, the chance of dying from breast cancer within the next 10 years is extremely small, but for a woman older than 65 years, it is about 1% (see Table 4). Women older than 70 years have an even higher risk of dying of breast cancer, but they are even more likely to die of other causes.[5]

Table 4. Mortality Risk According to Age: Breast Cancer and All Causesa

Other Risk Factors

Additional risk factors include a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer (particularly first-degree relatives, on either the mother's or father's side); early age at menarche and late age at first birth (reflecting estrogen exposure); and a history of breast biopsies, especially for proliferative benign breast disease,[7,8] including radial scalloping lesions (a pathologic entity also called radial scars, even though unrelated to previous surgeries or scars).[9] The Gail model estimates individual risk over time based on these factors for women aged 40 years or older who receive regular mammography.[10,11,12] (Refer to the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool.)

Women with a personal history of invasive breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ, or lobular carcinomain situ have a 0.6% to 1.0% estimated annual risk of developing a new primary breast cancer.[13]