ABOUT: Breast Cancer in Canada
How many people are affected?
- In her lifetime, approximately one in nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. This is an increase from one in 20 during the 1970s.
- In Canada: An estimated 22,400 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.
- An estimated 5,300 women will die from breast cancer in 2008.
- In Ontario: An estimated 8,500 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.
- An estimated 2,000 women will die from breast cancer in 2008.
What are some of the risk factors?
- Researchers have not determined the exact causes of breast cancer, but the likelihood of developing the disease has been linked to a number of risk factors. A risk factor for breast cancer is anything that is seen more often in those who develop the disease than in those who do not. The risk factors described below may increase a person’s chances of developing this disease, but do not necessarily mean the person will get breast cancer. Even people who are at high risk for breast cancer may never develop it.
- Women are more likely to develop breast cancer than men. Breast cancer occurs in men in less than one per cent of all cases. An estimated 170 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada in 2007.
- The risk of developing breast cancer increases with age. More than three-quarters of women diagnosed with breast cancer are over 50 years old.
- Mutations in two genes – BRCA1 and BRCA2 – have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.However, only up to five or 10 per cent of all people with breast cancer are believed to be carriers of hereditary mutations to these genes.
- Additional risk factors for breast cancer include: family history of breast and related cancers; personal history of breast cancer; personal history of certain proliferative breast conditions; early menstruation (before age 12); late menopause (after age 55); dense breasts; radiation to the chest area; high body weight; no full-term pregnancies or a first full-term pregnancy after age 30-35; never breastfeeding; hormone replacement therapy for over 5 years; oral contraceptives; alcohol consumption; lack of physical activity; exposure to tobacco smoke (particularly for young women); and possibly a diet high in certain kinds of fat and low in vegetables and fruit.
What progress is being made?
- Since 1999, the number of new breast cancer cases diagnosed among Canadian women each year has stabilized.
- Earlier detection and new, more effective treatments have led to a significant improvement in survival rates for women with breast cancer in every age group. Recently-released statistics show that the mortality rate for breast cancer has declined by 25 per cent since 1986.
- Primary prevention research is an area of research supported by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region. The goal of this research is to better understand how modifiable risk factors affect the development of breast cancer, with the long-term goal of building knowledge about how to stop the diseasebefore it starts.
From the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation April 2008
Sources:
Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada, Canadian Cancer Statistics 2008, Toronto, Canada, 2008.
Health Canada. It’s Your Health\. (accessed April 2005)
Cancer Care Ontario. “Ontario Cancer Facts: Breast cancer survival improved for every age group.” October 2006.
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