Breast Cancer Incidence

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Mikaela Dell’Oro
BMedRadSc (RadTherapy) (Hons)

Information for Patients

Cancer Incidence and Treatment Cure Rates

An estimated 200,000 women are living with breast cancer.

It is the most common malignancy amongst women worldwide. One in eight Australian women are annually diagnosed with breast cancer. That is approximately 17,210 Australian women and 148 men diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020.

The number of breast cancer cases will increase as our population ages. For example, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) projected the daily number of new breast cancer cases would increase from 37 to 47 women by 2020. Their estimation has been proven to be correct. It has.

Published Cancer Australia statistics (Figure 1.) were derived from AIHW data.

Figure 1 Published Cancer Australia statistics derived from AIHW data.

Despite the large number of breast cancer cases diagnosed each year, modern treatments of surgery, chemotherapy targeted therapy and radiation therapy have resulted in very high cancer cure rates.

The estimated five-year survival of breast cancer patients has recently increased from 72% to 91%, thanks to the continued improvement of breast cancer detection programs and better treatment techniques.

Treatment Options

Your medical specialists, including breast surgeon, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist, will provide you medical advice on a range of options to treat your breast cancer.

There are a number of different standard treatment protocols which your medical specialist(s) can discuss with you. It is highly dependent on the medical details of your specific breast cancer and health details.

The main options would involve a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, hormone therapy and/or external beam radiation therapy (see Cancer Council Australia). The optimum treatment combination depends on many factors such as: tumour type, size and stage of the cancer, tumour location, hormone receptor status, general health and the patient’s preference.

An increased number of women attending breast-screening examinations and an improved public awareness of breast cancer, have resulted in earlier detection and better outcomes for breast cancer patients.

The detection of smaller breast cancers has also led to more patients able to have breast-conserving surgery (i.e. the tumour can be surgically removed while retaining the natural breast shape).

Breast-conserving surgery may be a lumpectomy, partial mastectomy, complete local excision or a wide local excision.

Breast mastectomy involves the removal of the entire affected breast. The surgeon may recommend a mastectomy if there is a risk of microscopic spread of the disease.

To be extra sure that any residual microscopic disease remaining after surgery is eradicated, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy are commonly prescribed. Several prospective randomised trials with large cohorts have shown postoperative radiation therapy reduces the risk of breast cancer recurrence by two-thirds as compared to having surgery alone.

Patients normally receive radiotherapy breast cancer treatment with a machine called a ‘linear accelerator’ (referred to as a ‘linac’) which produces a megavoltage energy X-ray beam.

A course of treatment the doctor prescribes will be within the range of 16 to 25 treatment attendances.

Figure 2 shows how the linac is rotated around to where the machine can direct the X-ray beam in directions which avoid the heart and lungs, treating the breast or chest wall. For a more detailed description of how your treatment is set up, see the next article describing the ‘Deep Inspiration Breath Hold’ technique.

Figure 2 The linear accelerator is rotated around to where the machine can direct the X-ray beam in opposing directions and be tangential to the breast and chest wall (Illustration from Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research).

Take Home Message

The lifetime chance for any Australian person having any form of cancer is approximately 1 in 4.

The risk of a woman having breast cancer by the age of 85 years is 1 in 8 (Breast Cancer Network Australia).

These high statistics of cancer incidence indicate that all women should be very aware of the high risk of breast cancer and ensure they physically examine and visually observe whether there are any changes in their normal breast anatomy.

If you are concerned about any changes in your breast you may have detected, then you should immediately consult your local doctor.

The Australian regular mammogram screening program for women aged over 50 years is a very valuable service. Early detection of breast cancer helps to ensure the best treatment can be arranged for an optimum cure outcome.