breast cancer incidence in 2008 worldwide

Estimated age-standardised rates (World) per 100,000

Using the same source as in the previous post I am reporting the incidence of breast cancer worldwide in 2008.

“Breast cancer is by far the most frequent cancer among women with an estimated 1.38 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2008 (23% of all cancers), and ranks second overall (10.9% of all cancers). It is now the most common cancer both in developed and developing regions with around 690 000 new cases estimated in each region (population ratio 1:4). Incidence rates vary from 19.3 per 100,000 women in Eastern Africa to 89.7 per 100,000 women in Western Europe, and are high (greater than 80 per 100,000) in developed regions of the world (except Japan) and low (less than 40 per 100,000) in most of the developing regions. The range of mortality rates is much less (approximately 6-19 per 100,000) because of the more favorable survival of breast cancer in (high-incidence) developed regions. As a result, breast cancer ranks as the fifth cause of death from cancer overall (458 000 deaths), but it is still the most frequent cause of cancer death in women in both developing (269 000 deaths, 12.7% of total) and developed regions, where the estimated 189 000 deaths is almost equal to the estimated number of deaths from lung cancer (188 000 deaths). “

It is also interesting to note that although the incidence of breast cancer in developing countries  is significantly lower than in developed countries, mortality due to this tumor is much higher in the former as compared to the latter. As already pointed out in previous posts,  this is due to the lack of efficient screening and early diagnosis of breast cancer in developing countries.