Breast cancer: key points
- Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Scotland accounting for 28.0% of all cancers diagnosed, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer.
- Risk of breast cancer increases substantially with age and it is largely determined by lifetime exposure to oestrogens.
- Many of the known risk factors for breast cancer relate to a woman's reproductive history, e.g. early menarche, late first pregnancy, low parity, not breastfeeding and late menopause.
- There were 4,297 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in 2020 in women in Scotland and incidence is increasing over time.
- Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women in Scotland. However, mortality has decreased since the late 1980s. The mortality rate has decreased by 2.8% over the ten years 2011-2020.
- One in eight women in Scotland will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.
- Breast cancer survival has improved substantially over recent years, with 86% of women in Scotland now surviving at least 5 years after their breast cancer diagnosis.
- Breast cancer is more common in affluent areas, but for women diagnosed with breast cancer survival is lower in more deprived areas.
- Breast cancer incidence and mortality is higher in the UK and other western countries than in the rest of the world.
Key statistics (females only):
Females | |
---|---|
Number of cases diagnosed in 2020 | 4,297 |
Prevalence at 31 Dec 2020 (cases / 100,000 female pop)1 | 1,802.6 |
Number of deaths in 2020 | 969 |
% women surviving 5 years after diagnosis2 | 86% |
Lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (from birth) | 11.6% |
Lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (from age 54) | 9.6% |
Notes:
1) Number of female breast cancer survivors at 31 Dec 2020 who had been diagnosed in the previous 20 years per 100,000 female population.
2) 5 year relative survival for patients diagnosed during the period 2003-2017 (age-standardised).
Section updates:
- The last major update of this section was completed in August 2021.
- The next major update is due to be carried out by end June 2022.