 |
 |
Risks Associated with Breast Cancer »
Learn about what lifesystle choices may make you more susceptible.
Chances of Developing Breast Cancer
It's very easy to be confused by the statistics that are used to describe your risk of breast cancer. Many people think that the risk for everyone at any time is 1 in 8. They think that if they are in a room with eight other people, that one person in that room will get breast cancer that year. It's not true.
The often used "1 in 8 " statistic describes an overall lifetime risk, not the risk for women in one year. That means that by the time you reach 85 years of age, which is considered a standard lifetime for women today, your risk would then be 1 in 8. If you have not yet reached this lifetime age, your overall risk is much less.
These estimates, based on breast cancer statistics for women in the United States from the years 2001 through 2003, mean that, if the current rate stays the same, women born now have an average risk of 12.7 percent (often expressed as "1 in 8") of being diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in their lives. On the other hand, the chance that they will never have breast cancer is 87.3 percent (expressed as "7 in 8").
When looking at the likelihood of developing breast cancer, it may help to see numbers that describe your risk for any given year as opposed to a lifetime risk.
30-39 years of age 1 in 233
40-49 years of age 1 in 69
50-59 years of age 1 in 38
60-69 years of age 1 in 27
Birth to death 1 in 8