How many women get breast cancer?

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for breast cancer in women in the United States for 2013 are:

• About 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer
• About 64,640 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the breast will be found (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).
• About 39,620 deaths from breast cancer
• cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.

The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer during her life is about 1 in 8. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 36. Breast cancer death rates have been going down. This is probably the result of finding the cancer earlier and better treatment. Right now there are more than 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

Last Medical Review: 09/17/2013
Last Revised: 10/24/2013