More than 200,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. during the next year – and more than 40,000 patients will die. But there is good news: The mortality rate from breast cancer is dropping – down 16 percent in the last 20 years.
After a steady increase in the 1980s, the mortality rate for breast cancer in women has dropped dramatically. Source: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Early detection through mammography has been a major factor in the dramatic decrease in breast cancer mortality.
Mammography can detect a lump in the breast one to three years before it can be felt. 1
Early detection increases the chances of survival, allows more treatment options, and increases the chances that treatments can be less toxic and disfiguring.2
Advances in mammography are increasing its speed, precision, comfort, and capabilities, as other imaging technologies – from MRI, to ultrasound, to computer assisted diagnosis (see CAD) – are also joining the battle against breast cancer.
The incidence of breast cancer is rising – that is, breast cancer is being detected in more women – because of increasing use of sophisticated mammography systems. At the same time, the mortality rate from breast cancer – that is, the percentage of women who are dying from breast cancer – is also dropping.3 This is due to early treatment that emerges from early diagnosis.
Source: National Health Interview Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mammography screening is recommended by virtually all the leading health organizations due to its ability to detect breast cancer at its earliest stage. See Organizations
1 "The State of Health Care Quality: 2003," National Committee for Quality Assurance, Washington, DC, 2003, p. 28. 2 "Promotion Guide," National Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2003 Program, Board of Sponsors, page 7. 3 "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2000, Featuring the Uses of Surveillance Data for Cancer Prevention and Control," Weir HK, Thun MJ, Bankey BF, Ries LA, Howe HL, Wingo DA, Jemal A, Ward E, Anderson RN, Edwards BK, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 95, No. 17, September 3, 2003, p. 1293.
