Age-standardised incidence of and mortality from female breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in England. In 2007 there were 38,048 new cases diagnosed, an increase of 44 cases compared to 2006 (less than half a per cent). Breast cancer accounts for 31 per cent of all cancers in women. In 2007, there were 120 cases per 100,000 women.
Four out of every five new cases are diagnosed in women aged 50 and over, with cases peaking in the 60 to 64 age group.
Just under 10,000 women died from breast cancer in England in 2007, a rate of 27 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, fewer births 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.
Some 2.2 million women aged 50-70 were invited for breast cancer screening in 2007-08. Of these, 73 per cent were screened.
Incidence rates for breast cancer increased by more than 80 per cent between 1971 and 2007. The age-standardised incidence rate increased by 5 per cent in the ten years to 2007; however, mortality rates have fallen by 30 percent since 1971.
Earlier detection and improved treatment for breast cancer have meant that survival rates have risen. Survival from breast cancer is higher than that for cervical cancer and much higher than that of other major cancers in women - lung, colorectal and ovarian. Five-year survival was 82 per cent for women in England diagnosed in 2001-06 and followed up for survival to the end of 2007. This compares with 81 per cent for women diagnosed in 2000-04 and followed up to the end of 2005.
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 years.
Source: Office for National Statistics
Note: All rates stated are directly age standardised using the European standard population
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)