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UK Breast Cancer mortality statistics

This page contains breast cancer mortality statistics by sex, age and trends over time.

Breast cancer mortality statistics by sex

In the UK in 2006 there were 12,392 deaths from breast cancer; 12,319 (99%) of these were in women and 73 (1%) were in men1-3. Breast cancer accounts for around 17% of female deaths from cancer in the UK and was the most common cause of death from cancer in women until 1998; since then there have been more deaths from lung cancer.

The number of deaths from breast cancer and the mortality rates for the constituent countries of the UK are shown in Table 2.11-3.

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Breast cancer mortality statistics by age

The number of deaths and age-specific mortality rates for female breast cancer are shown in Figure 2.1.

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In younger women aged 35-54 years, breast cancer is the most common cause of all deaths from cancer accounting for 32% of all deaths.

Trends in breast cancer mortality

Breast cancer mortality rates in the UK have fallen dramatically since 1989 when 15,625 women died from the disease compared with 12,319 in 2006. Over the same period the breast cancer age-standardised death rates have fallen by 34% from 42 to 28 per 100,000 women, Figure 2.24.

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The age-standardised mortality rate for female breast cancer in all of the constituent countries of the UK increased until the late 1980s and then rapidly fell. Breast cancer mortality has declined in all age groups (Figure 2.3)1-4.

Between 1989 and 2006 the breast cancer mortality rate fell by 43% in women aged 40-49 years; by 39% in women aged 50-64; by 37% in women aged 65-69; by 32% in women aged 15-39; and by 16% in women over 70.

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The reduction in breast cancer mortality rates is likely to have several different causes including screening, increasing specialisation of care and the widespread adoption of tamoxifen treatment since 1992.

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References

1. Office for National Statistics Mortality Statistics: Cause. England and Wales 2006 London TSO 2008
2. Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, 2008 Cancer Mortality in Northern Ireland, 2006
3. ISD Online, 2008 Cancer Mortality in Scotland, 2006
4. Office for National Statistics (1997) Twentieth Century Mortality - 95 years of mortality data in England and Wales by age, sex, year and underlying cause.

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