This is what it takes to beat the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women, and the second leading cause of cancer death in Connecticut. Breast health is all about the numbers.

• According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control, breast cancer in the United States is…
  • The most common cancer among American women in the United States, other than non-melanoma skin cancer.
  • The most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women.
  • The second most common cause of death from cancer among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.
  • Regardless of age, African-American women have the highest breast cancer mortality rates.
• The chance of developing invasive breast cancer at some time in a woman's life is a little less than 1 in 8 (12%).
• Women in Connecticut are especially at risk. They have the third highest rate of new breast cancers in the United States.
• In the Lower Naugatuck Valley:
  • Women in Connecticut have the third highest rate of new breast cancers in the United States.
  • In a recent community survey, only 48 percent of women over 40 had had a mammogram within the last year.
  • Our most recent data indicates that 23 percent of underserved women over 40 have never had a mammogram.
  • Of all the 316 cancers diagnosed or first treated at Griffin Hospital in 2009, breast cancer was the most frequent.