Breast cancer: key points

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Scotland accounting for over a quarter of all cancers diagnosed.
• 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 3,900 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 over the past 10 years or so.
• One in ten women in Scotland will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.
• Breast cancer survival has improved substantially over recent years, with around 80% 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):

	Females
Number of cases diagnosed in 2004	3,917
Prevalence at 31 Dec 2003 (cases / 100,000 female pop) (1)	1,249
Number of deaths in 2005	1,144
% women surviving 5 years after diagnosis (2)	80.2%
Lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (from birth)	9.6%
Lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (from age 54)	7.4%

Notes:
(1) Number of female breast cancer survivors at 31 Dec 2003 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 1997-2001 (not standardised).