Screening, survival and mortality for breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, with a lifetime incidence of about 11% and a lifetime mortality rate of about 3% in the United States (Feuer et al., 2003). One in nine women will acquire breast cancer at some point in their life and one in thirty will die from the disease. Overall spending for breast cancer care typically amounts to about 0.5-0.6% of total health care expenditure (OECD, 2003a).