An estimated 43,300 women and 400 men are expected to die from breast cancer. Every three minutes, another woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Every 11 minutes, another woman dies from breast cancer. Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer in cancer-related deaths. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for all women aged 35-54.
Every woman is at risk for developing breast cancer.
There is no known cure for breast cancer. Despite growing use of mammography and overall advances in medical technology, the death rate has not changed significantly over the last twenty years. Approximately half of all breast cancer patients will die from their disease. Women age 65 or older are twice as likely to develop or die from breast cancer as women ages 40-64. Although the disease is most common in women over 50, younger women, even those in their twenties, develop, and die from, breast cancer.