Breast Cancer Facts – Source: The Hartford Courant, October 2015 and The American Cancer Society 2023
268,600
Number of American women estimated to be diagnosed with new cases of invasive breast cancer in 2023. Excluding skin cancers, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women.
1 in 8
A woman living in the United States has a 12.3 percent, or 1 in 8, lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. In the 1970’s the lifetime risk of being diagnosed was 1 in 11.
25,248
Of the 268,600 women in the U.S. estimated to be diagnosed with new cases of invasive breast cancer in 2023, an estimated 25,248 will be younger than 45.
62,930
An additional estimated 62,930 women will be diagnosed in 2023 with breast carcinoma in situ (CIS). (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer)
3,490
Estimated number of new cases of breast cancer in Connecticut women in 2023. Female breast cancer is the leading cause of new cancers in the state.
89.7 percent
The five-year survival rate for all women diagnosed with breast cancer, depending on the stage. The five-year survival rate for Stage 4 breast cancer is 25.9 percent. When breast cancer is diagnosed early and confined to the breast, the five year survival rate increases to 98.6 percent.
3,418,124
The number of women in the U.S. estimated in 2015 to be living with breast cancer.
43,250
The number of deaths from breast cancer in the U.S. were estimated in 2022. Death from breast cancer accounts for 6.8 percent of all cancer deaths. Of women’s deaths, an estimated 2,430 are younger than age 45. The rate of US women dying from breast cancer has been trending down since about 1990.
430
The number of Connecticut women estimated to die from breast cancer in 2023. Breast cancer ranks second as a cause of cancer deaths in Connecticut women, after lung cancer. Among Hispanic women in Connecticut, it’s the most common cause of cancer-related deaths.
136.6 per 100,000
The rate of female breast cancer in Connecticut’s population – the second highest in the U.S. after Washington D.C. – is considerably higher than the U.S. rate of 122.7 per 100,000.
20.8 per 100,000
The death rate from female breast cancer in Connecticut. Despite the high rate of incidence of breast cancer in Connecticut, the state’s death rate is comparatively low – tied with North Dakota and lower than 21 other states. The age-adjusted mortality rate is lower than the national average in part because Connecticut’s screening rate is high.
84.1 percent
The percentage of Connecticut women aged 50 to 74 who had a mammogram in the past two years. The rate of women in the U.S. overall is 78.7 percent.