Truth #10: Risk of breast cancer increases with age; 50% of breast cancer occurs among women aged 62 years or older

TRUE. Breast cancer is primarily a disease of older women, with the median age of diagnosis at 61 years of age.

It is estimated that a woman age 20 has about a 5 in 10,000 risk of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years; for a woman age 40, it is about 1 in 100, and for a woman age 60, it is about 1 in 28.

A 20-year old woman has a lower risk of dying from breast cancer than a 70-year old man.