Characteristics of Breast Cancer Cases

Number of Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 1996-2009 by Age and Type of Disease

[D]

This figure shows that 89,023 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996-2009 who have had mammography data recorded in the BCSC. Comparison to the age distribution of mammography shows that breast cancers are diagnosed more often as age increases. Ductal carcinoma in situ may be commonly detected by screening mammography, particularly for women between ages 40 to 69.

Number of Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 1996-2009 by Year of Diagnosis and Type of Disease

[D]

This figure shows the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer within the BCSC research sites each year for the years 1996-2009. However, because of the long lag time that may occur between a screening mammogram and breast cancer diagnosis, one cannot use the information on screening mammography and cancers in these figures to form rates (cancers/mammograms). Also, some research sites no longer collected complete cancer data after 2005, and cancer ascertainment is not complete through 2009.

Interval in Days Between Screening Mammograms (1996-2009) Performed 9 to 17 Months Apart

[D]

For women with two or more screening mammograms that are 9 to 17 months apart, we computed the lag time in days between these screening mammograms. The mode is actually 366 days. The peaks occur every seven days because women often come back on the same day of the week as their earlier mammogram. The distribution of lag time is important for the definition of sensitivity.

The following source must be cited when reproducing these data:

NCI-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (U01CA63740, U01CA86076, U01CA86082, U01CA63736, U01CA70013, U01CA69976, U01CA63731, U01CA70040, HHSN261201100031C). Downloaded xx/xx/xxxx from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium Web site - http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/data/chars_cases.html.