My Breakthrough
Lifetime risk
Breast cancer is rare in women under 30, but occurs more frequently in later life.
The following are estimates for the risk of developing breast cancer for different female age groups in England.
- Age up to 25: 1 in 15,000
- Age up to 30: 1 in 1,900
- Age up to 40: 1 in 200
- Age up to 50: 1 in 50
- Age up to 60: 1 in 23
- Age up to 70: 1 in 15
- Age up to 80: 1 in 11
- Age up to 85: 1 in 10
The likelihood of diagnosis increases with age. Over the course of your entire lifetime, every woman has a one in nine (11%) chance of developing breast cancer. This can be misleading - what this actually refers to is the collective risk over 85 years of life and your actual risk at different times of your life is lower - as shown above.
For more information specifically related to risk factors please visit the Risk factors section on this site.
Source: Cancer trends for England and Wales 1950-1999, Office for National Statistics.
Also within "Understanding breast cancer"
