As of 2003, anywhere from one in five to one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime – this statistic is up from 1 in 14 in 1960 – a doubling in the past 40 years.. 

More than 250,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in the US – a new case is diagnosed every 2-1/2 minutes.

Excluding skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women – nearly one in every three cancers diagnosed in US women.

Minority women have a higher risk of dying from breast cancer than any other cancer. This is largely due to the fact that breast cancer in minority women is often diagnosed at more advanced stages.

In 2003, 39,800 women and 400 men are expected to die of breast cancer in the United States. 

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 20 and 59. 

One third (1/3) of all breast cancers occur in women under age 45. 

70% of breast cancers occur in women with no history of the disease in their families. 

About 77 percent of invasive breast cancers occur in women over age 50. The average age at diagnosis is 62. Women age 65 or older are twice as likely to develop or die from breast cancer as women ages 40 – 64.

Recovery rates have not improved significantly in more than 40 years.