Breast cancer: key points

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Scotland accounting for almost 30% of all cancers diagnosed, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer.
• Risk of breast cancer is largely determined by lifetime exposure to oestrogens and risk increases substantially with age.
• Many of the known risk factors for breast cancer relate to a woman's reproductive history, e.g. early menarche, late first pregnancy, low parity, not breastfeeding and late menopause.
• There are over 4,200 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed each year in women in Scotland and incidence is increasing over time.
• Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women in Scotland, although mortality has decreased since the late 1980s.
• One in ten women in Scotland will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.
• Breast cancer survival has improved substantially over recent years, with over 85% of women in Scotland now surviving at least 5 years after their breast cancer diagnosis.
• Breast cancer is more common in affluent areas, but for women diagnosed with breast cancer survival is lower in more deprived areas.
• Breast cancer incidence and mortality is higher in the UK and other western countries than in the rest of the world.

Key statistics (females only):

Notes:
(1) Number of female breast cancer survivors at 31 Dec 2007 who had been diagnosed in the previous 20 years per 100,000 female population.
(2) 5 year relative survival for patients diagnosed during the period 2003-2007 (not standardised).