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Right
now, 1 Million women are battling breast cancer. They just don't
know it yet.
In the United
States today, the statistics on breast cancer are staggering. Of
the 3 million women who are living with breast cancer, 2 million
have already been diagnosed while the remaining 1 million do not
yet know that they have the disease. That's why it's time we all
got involved. Hurricane Voices is a not for profit organization
dedicated to changing the numbers about breast cancer. With your
help, we can do just that.
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Today’s facts
about breast cancer are alarming. They compel us to acknowledge that the
realities surrounding breast cancer are unacceptable.
Read the facts.
Absorb the facts.
Share the facts.
- The single largest
risk factor for breast cancer is simply being a woman. All women therefore
face these realities:
- There is no
known cure for breast cancer;
- There is nothing
a woman can do to ensure that she will not get breast cancer.
- Approximately 3
million women in the U.S. are living with breast cancer: 2 million who
have been diagnosed and an estimated 1 million who do not yet know they
have the disease.
- An overwhelming
majority of breast cancer cases, approximately 90% to 95%, are not caused
by genetics. [More
information on genetics and family history.]
- The lifetime risk
for a woman being diagnosed with breast cancer has steadily increased
over the years, from 1 in 20 in 1940, 1 in 14 in 1969, 1 in 11 in 1975
and the current risk of 1 in 8. This fact is illustrated by the 40 percent
rise in breast cancer incidence rates from 1973 to 1998.
- In 2002, it is
estimated that 203,500 new cases of invasive breast cancers will be
diagnosed among women in the United States. In addition, an estimated
39,600 women will die from this disease. 1,500 new cases of breast cancers
will be diagnosed among men in the United States, and an estimated 400
men will die from the disease.
- Breast cancer is
the leading cause of cancer death for women between the ages of 40 and
59, and the second leading cause of cancer death for all women in the
U.S.
- Mortality rates
for African American women are higher than Caucasian women despite a
lower incidence rate. A significant portion of this difference can be
attributed to later stage at detection and tumors that are more aggressive
and less responsive to treatment.
- This year, a new
case of breast cancer will be diagnosed every 3 minutes, and a woman
will die from breast cancer every 13 minutes.
Knowing the facts
is a key element in the fight against breast cancer.
Sources:
ACS, Breast
Cancer Facts and Figures 2001-2002
ACS, Cancer
Fact and Figures 2002
National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO), Facts
About Breast Cancer in the USA
National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), Facts
About Breast Cancer in the United States: Year 2001
National Cancer Institute (NCI), Annual
Report Shows Overall Decline in U.S. Cancer Incidence and Death Rates
NCI Statistical Research and Applications Branch, The
Lifetime Risk of Developing Breast Cancer
NCI Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, Cancer
Statistics Review 1973-1999, Overview, Table I-15
NCI Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, Cancer
Statistics Review 1973-1999, Overview, Table I-16
Susan Love, Dr. Susan Loves Breast Book (New York: Perseus, 2000)
225.
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