Weve all heard the statistic that one in eight women will develop breastcancer inher lifetime. In terms of percentages, the National Cancer Institute translates that into 12.1 percent . However scary those numbers are, its important to remember a few things: The overall survival rate for all cancers is increasing.
In 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available, the number of cancer survivors was 11.7 million, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. In 2001, the figure was 9.8 million. Breast cancer has the highest rate of survival (22 percent), according to the CDC.
The CDC also regularly issues the number of breast-cancer cases detected in each state. These numbers should be taken in context . For example, in states with a high incidence, its likely that more women go for regular mammograms, and their disease is detected earlier. Other states that have a lower rate may have those numbers because they have a substantial population of uninsured people who have no access to the health-care system. Therefore, fewer mammograms are being performed.
According to the CDC, these are how the states rank in breast-cancer incidence. The figures are from 2007, the latest available. They represent the number of women out of every 100,000 in their state whose breast cancer is detected.
