Stats & Facts

Everyone knows a fact or stat about breast cancer, but are they always right?

There's so much information about this disease that affects more than 46,000 women a year that it's easy to get them mixed up. To help distinguish the facts from the fiction we've picked out some key facts and stats below. You'll see that we've also set the story straight on a few of the myths linked to breast cancer...

The facts...
. The biggest risk factor, after gender, is age
The older you are, the higher the risk; 80% of breast cancer cases occur in women over the age of 50
. More people are being diagnosed with breast cancer, but survival rates are improving
This is probably due to improved treatment and earlier detection through increased breast awareness and the NHS screening service
. Breast cancer also affects men, but it is rare
Around 300 men are diagnosed each year

The stats...
. Around 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year - that's one person every 11 minutes
. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women under 35 - nearly 1,500 women aged 35-39 are diagnosed annually
. Just under 12,000 women and around 90 men die from breast cancer in the UK each year
. Breast cancer is the second biggest cause of death from cancer for women in the UK (lung cancer is the biggest)

The fiction...
. "Breast cancer is mainly a hereditary disease"
Breast cancer can run in families, but fewer than 10% of cases are as a result of family history
. "Pregnancy increases the risk of breast cancer"
Wrong. In fact, the more children a woman has, the lower her risk of getting breast cancer
. "Deodorants cause breast cancer"
There is no hard evidence to prove or disprove this myth, which has caused unnecessary distress for a lot of women