Female breast cancer incidence and mortality, England, 1971-2005
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in England. In 2005 there were around 38,200 new cases diagnosed in women. This represents an increase of 1,300 cases (3.4 per cent) compared with 2004. Breast cancer accounts for 32 per cent of all cancers in women. In 2005, there were 123 cases per 100,000 women, similar to the rate in 2004.
Four out of every five new cases are diagnosed in women aged 50 and over, with cases peaking in the 55 to 69 age group.
Around 10,300 women died from breast cancer in England in 2005, a rate of 28 deaths per 100,000 women. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.
One in nine women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. Most of the known risk factors for breast cancer relate to a woman’s reproductive history such as an early first period, a late first pregnancy, low parity and a late menopause. Using oral contraceptives, having hormone replacement therapy (HRT), being obese and drinking alcohol also increase the risk.
The breast screening programme was introduced in 1988 with the aim of reducing the number of women dying from breast cancer. Originally, breast screening was offered every three years to all women aged between 50 and 64, and to women aged 65 and over on request. From 2001, this was extended to women in England aged 65 to 70 and to women over 70 on request. Full national coverage for this older age group was achieved by the end of 2004.In 2008, the age range for screening was extended further to provide for nine screening rounds between 47 and 73 years, with a guarantee that women will have their first screen by the age of 50. This expansion will be completed by 2012.
In 2006-07, nearly three quarters of women aged 50-70 invited for screening in England underwent screening for breast cancer. Around 1.6 million women were screened in 2006-07.
Incidence rates for breast cancer increased by 84 per cent between 1971 and 2005, and by 14 per cent in the ten years to 2005.
Earlier detection and improved treatment have meant that survival rates have risen. Five-year survival was 81 per cent for women diagnosed in 1999-2003 in England. Survival from breast cancer is higher than that for cervical cancer and much higher than that for the other major cancers in women - lung, colorectal and ovarian. For women diagnosed in 2001-03, 72 per cent are likely to survive for at least ten years. However, survival is still decreasing more than ten years after diagnosis, and only 64 per cent are likely to survive for at least 20 years.
Death rates gradually increased up to the mid-1980s and then began to fall around the time screening started. By 1998 mortality was around 20 per cent lower than it would have been without screening (based on predictions of pre-screening rates in various age groups). Falls occurred in all age groups, but were greatest in women aged 55 to 69.
Source: Office for National Statistics
Note: All rates stated are directly age standardised using the European standard population
Parity is defined as the number of live-born children a woman has delivered.
The technique called 'period' analysis has been used to produce these data, which provide the best current prediction of relative survival up to 20 years after diagnosis, even though the most recent diagnosed cancer patients have been followed up for a much shorter period.
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Cancer statistics: Registrations (Series MB1)