What are the current trends in breast cancer mortality and survival?
• >>Read the 2007 American Cancer Society report on the drop in overall cancer deaths for the second straight year! • The 5-year survival rate has increased by 12% over the past 30 years, and by 4.6% over the last decade alone. • In women whose breast cancer is diagnosed at an early stage and is localized, 98% survive more than 5 years. • For all stages of breast cancer, the 5-year survival rate is 89%. • Breast cancer incidence rates showed a rapid increase in the 1980s, although the rate of increase slowed in the 1990s compared to the 1980s. In the years from 2000 to 2004, incidence rates decreased slightly. • The chance that breast cancer will be responsible for a woman’s death is about 1 in 35 (about 3%). • Death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990, with larger decreases in women younger than 50. These decreases are believed to be the result of earlier detection through screening and increased awareness, as well as improved treatment. • Currently, there ar
