Breast cancer is a very serious disease which should not be taken lightly by anybody. It can affect you or the people that you love without warning. For that reason, it is important to learn as much as you can about this affliction. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of breast cancer statistics that can help you to realize exactly how severe of a problem breast cancer is in the world today.

- Breast cancer is the second biggest cause of death by cancer in women. It is second only to lung cancer in women’s cancer mortality rates.

- In any given year, as many as 1.2 million women on average across the world will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
- In the year 2000 alone, 202,044 women in North America were diagnosed with a new case of breast cancer. Also in the year 2000, 51,184 North American people died as a result of breast cancer.
-The risk of a woman getting breast cancer at some point in her life is around 1 in 8. The risk for getting breast cancer before age 30, however, is a mere 1 in 2,212.
- The 5-year survival rate for women under age 45 for breast cancer is 81 percent.
-Roughly 77 percent of all breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women that are 50 years of age or older.
- Few realize that breast cancer can occur in men as well. While nowhere near as prevalent in men, an estimated 1,860 males will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
- The highest risk of breast cancer is faced by those with white, Hawaiian, or African American ancestry. This risk faced by these ethnicities is roughly 4 times as prevalent as the chance faced by the lowest risk group.
-After women reach age forty, it is highly recommended for them to get a mammogram yearly. However, only 66.9 percent of all women over 40 have had a mammogram in the past two years.
- Breast cancer IS the leading cause of cancer deaths in a specific age group of women: 40 to 59.
-While the threat of breast cancer is still quite serious, statistics show that the death rates of women from breast cancer in the United States have decreased by about 2.8 percent every year from 1990 to 2000.
As you can see, breast cancer is a problem that is far-reaching and life-altering. Unfortunately, the statistics do not show that a full 100 percent of women get an annual mammogram. If you are a woman over the age of 40, it is important to ensure that you are not one of the 33.1 percent of women who are in the dark about the status of their breast health. Early detection of breast cancer can lead to being able to fix the problem before it becomes too late. Fear is never an adequate excuse for not getting a yearly mammogram; it is an important and necessary process for those who are high in risk for breast cancer.