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 4,000 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 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 2006 |
4,079 |
| Prevalence at 31 Dec 2005 (cases / 100,000 female pop) (1) |
1,345 |
| Number of deaths in 2007 |
1,062 |
| % women surviving 5 years after diagnosis (2) |
83.7% |
| Lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (from birth) |
9.9% |
| Lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (from age 54) |
7.7% |
Notes:
(1) Number of female breast cancer survivors at 31 Dec 2005 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 2000-2004 (not standardised).
Section updates:
|
sites