Overview of the Causes and Treatments of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide the most common cancer in American women and the second leading cause of death in women aged 45-55 years. This disease affects about one million people worldwide every year; Of these 320000 people live in Europe and 200000 live in America which make up more than half of the total number of patients. This disease accounts for three to five percent of deaths in the western world and one to three percent of deaths in developing countries but rarely occurs in Japan. In 2009 this cancer affected 192370 American women of which 40170 cases resulted in death. But recently the annual death rate due to this cancer in America has been reported as 2.3% which is attributed to the use of advanced screening methods and better and newer treatment options. One out of every nine women in British and American societies will get this disease during their lifetime; In general the prevalence of this disease in western countries is more than in Africa South America and Asia where several pathological factors are involved in the development of this disease.