Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Diagnosis: Breast Cancer By the Numbers
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus announced today (Sept. 28) on Twitter that she has breast cancer.
The Emmy-winning star of "Veep" tweeted an image of a note that read, in part, "1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I'm the one." Louis-Dreyfus did not say what stage of the disease she was diagnosed with.
Here's a look at breast cancer by the numbers. [10 Do's and Don’ts to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer]
252,710: The estimated number of women in the U.S. who will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this year, according to the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO). "Invasive" breast cancer refers to cancer that has spread from the milk ducts or lobules (milk-producing glands) in the breast to other breast tissue. (The ducts are the tubes that carry milk from the lobules to the nipple.)
63,410: The estimated number of women in the U.S. who will be diagnosed with noninvasive, or "in-situ," breast cancer this year, according to the ASCO. This refers to breast cancer that is found only in the milk ducts or lobules.
2,470: The estimated number of men in the U.S. who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, the ASCO says.
41,070: The estimated number of women and men who will die from the disease this year, according to the ASCO. (Women will account for 40,610 of these deaths.)
62: The median age of breast cancer diagnosis for women in the U.S., according to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. That means 50 percent of women will be diagnosed before 62, and 50 percent after. A woman's risk of breast cancer increases with age.
90 percent: The average five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the ASCO. The five-year survival rate refers to the percentage of people who live at least five years after the cancer is diagnosed.
83 percent: The average 10-year survival rate.
Close to 100 percent: The five-year survival rate for women who are diagnosed with stage 0 or stage 1 breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Stage 0 breast cancer refers to what doctors sometimes call "pre-cancer," and it means that the cancer cells haven't spread beyond the ducts of the breast. Stage 1 breast cancer refers to cancer that is found only in the breast and hasn't spread to nearby lymph nodes. (Stage 2 and stage 3 breast cancers are those that have spread to lymph nodes.)
5 percent: The percentage of women whose cancer has already spread to other parts of the body when their breast cancer is first discovered. This is stage 4 breast cancer, or metastatic cancer. The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent, according to the ACS.
More than 3.1 million: The number of women in the U.S. who are living with breast cancer or have completed treatment for it, according to ASC.
2nd most common: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer for women in the U.S., after lung cancer, the ASCO says.
Originally published on Live Science.
