Global burden of breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer in women is a major public health problem throughout the world. It is the most common cancer among women both in developed and developing countries. One in ten of all new cancers diagnosed worldwide each year is a cancer of the female breast. It is also the principal cause of death from cancer among women globally. More than 1.1 million cases are diagnosed and more than 410,000 patients die of it worldwide (Ferlay et al. 2004). It is the second most common cancer now, after lung cancer, when ranked by cancer occurrence in both sexes. About 55% of the global burden is currently experienced in developed countries, but incidence rates are rapidly rising in developing countries. We review the global burden of breast cancer, focusing on patterns of disease in terms of incidence and mortality and their geographical and temporal variations in different regions of the world. We also discuss briefly the sources and methods of estimation, validity and completeness of available data, and possible explanations for the observed patterns of incidence and mortality. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010.