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Key Facts about Breast Cancer

 


Breast cancer is the leading cancer in all women. Every year, thousands of people are affected by breast cancer. It impacts the people living with the disease, their families, friends and loved ones...


Incidence

For women:
  • Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Australian women (1).
  • The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia increased from 8,078 in 1992 to 12,170 in 2005, this is a 51% increase over 13 years (2).
  • 1 in 11 women up to the age of 75 are at risk of having breast cancer, 1 in 9 women up to the age of 85 are at risk of having breast cancer (2).

For men:
  • 1 in 1,339 men up to the age of 75 are at risk of having breast cancer, 1 in 747 men up to the age of 85 are at risk of having breast cancer (2).
  • The number of men diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia increased from 48 in 1992 to 95 in 2005, this is a 98% increase over a course of 13 years (2).


Mortality

 

  • Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in women in Australia.
  • 2,618 Australian women have died on breast cancer in 2006 (2).
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women had 9% higher rates of breast cancer mortality than the Australian women population as a whole, based on age-standardised rates for the 2000-2004 period (1).
  • 25 Australian men have died of breast cancer in 2006 (2).

 


Prevalence

 

  • For the period of 1996 till 2006, 26,152 Australian women have died from breast cancer (2).
  • For the period of 1996 till 2006, 217 Australian men have died from breast cancer (2).

 


Risk Factors

Whilst we do not know the main causes of breast cancer in individual cases, studies have shown us a consensus that across a group of people there are several risk factors for breast cancer. No causes are known for 95% of breast cancer cases, while approximately 5% of new breast cancers are attributable to hereditary syndromes (3). Like other forms of cancer, breast cancer is considered to be the final outcome of multiple environmental and hereditary factors.

 

  • Alcohol consumption can put women at an even higher risk of having breast cancer (4). Studies suggest consuming alcohol during pregnancy may affect the likelihood of breast cancer in daughters (5).
  • Obesity increases the chance of breast cancer, gaining weight after menopause can increase a woman's risk. A recent study found that putting on 9.9 kg after menopause increased the risk of developing breast cancer by 18% (6).
  • High insulin levels are positively correlated with an increased risk of breast cancer (7).
  • Blood levels of estrogen increasing persistently are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in women. Not having children, delaying first childbirth, not breastfeeding, early onset of your first period and late menopause are suspected of increasing lifetime risk for developing breast cancer (8).
  • Smoking and passive smoking have shown to cause an elevated risk of breast cancer. Breathing in secondhand smoke is especially harmful in younger pre-menopausal women (9).
  • Age is also a risk factor, as can be seen in the incidence rates. The risk of breast cancer increases with age. However, it tends to be more aggressive when it occurs in younger people. An example of this is one type of breast cancer that is especially aggressive and occurs disproportionately in younger people is inflammatory breast cancer (10).
  • Gender is also a risk factor for breast cancer. In fact, women have a higher risk than men. However, the risk to men is growing more rapidly (11).
  • High-fat diets have also been noted as a risk factor for breast cancer. Recent research suggests that low-fat diets may significantly decrease the risk of breast cancer as well as the recurrence of the disease (12).

 


Please note that the risk factors identified above are not true in every individual case of breast cancer. 
Considering that breast cancer is a result of both environmental factors and hereditary factors, we can all minimise the risk factors by being more active, adopting a healthier diet and by choosing a smoke free lifestyle.  

Currently there is no means of preventing breast cancer entirely; the focus in reducing the numbers of deaths is on detecting breast cancer as early as possible. So we must ensure that we examine our breasts to ensure there are no bumps and if you have any doubts get in touch with your local GP and have a mammogram. Do it not only for yourself, but also for your family and loved ones. You have a higher chance of beating breast cancer if you detect and treat it early.

 


Sources: 
(1) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2008. BreastScreen Australia monitoring report 2004–2005. Cancer series no. 42. Cat. no. CAN 37. Canberra: AIHW.
(2) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Cancer Incidence and Mortality books, Breast.http://www.aihw.gov.au/cancer/data/acim_books/index.cfm accessed April 2009.
(3) Madigan MP, Ziegler RG, Benichou J, Byrne C, Hoover RN (1995). "Proportion of breast cancer cases in the United States explained by well-established risk factors". J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 87 (22): 1681–5.
(4) Singletary KW, Gapstur SM (2001). "Alcohol and breast cancer: review of epidemiologic and experimental evidence and potential mechanisms". JAMA 286 (17): 2143–51
(5) Richard G. Stevens and Leena Hilakivi-Clarke (2001). Alcohol exposure in utero and breast cancer risk later in life. Alcohol and Alcoholism  36 (3): 276–277. 
(6) BBC Report (2006). “Weight link to breast cancer risk”.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5171838.stm Accessed on April 2009. 
(7) Gunter, M. J. et al.,(2009) Insulin, Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I, and Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women. NCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 101(1):48-60.
(8) Cavalieri E, Chakravarti D, Guttenplan J, et al (2006). "Catechol estrogen quinones as initiators of breast and other human cancers: implications for biomarkers of susceptibility and cancer prevention". Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1766 (1): 63–78
(9) Air Resources Board (2005). California Environmental Protection Agency: Air Resources Board, "Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant”. Accessed on April 2009. 
(10) Cleveland Clinic (2008). Facts about Breast Cancer in Younger Women http://www.medicinenet.com/breast_cancer_in_young_women/article.htm accessed on April 2009. 
(11) Giordano, Sharon H; Cohen DS, Buzdar AU, Perkins G, Hortobagyi GN (May 2004).  Breast carcinoma in men.  Cancer (American Cancer Society) 101 (1): 51–57.
(12) Chlebowski RT, Blackburn GL, Thomson CA, Nixon DW, Shapiro A, Hoy MK, et al.. "Dietary fat reduction and breast cancer outcome: interim efficacy results from the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS)". J Natl Cancer Inst 98 (24): 1767–1776.