Putting the risk of breast cancer in perspective

Patients are frequently given the opportunity to participate in making decisions about their care. To assist them in making their decisions data that are as accurate and as complete as appropriate will need to be quickly available. These data will be needed not only by patients but also by their doctors. A life table constructed from regularly published statistics on national morbidity and mortality can be used to display the likelihood of developing or dying of a disease (a cumulative probability) at any given age. Such a life table may be a valuable tool in helping patients to make decisions about their care. In this paper we discuss the use of life tables to present to patients the absolute and relative risks of breast cancer and their use in comparing the risks from breast cancer with those from other life threatening conditions. ### Summary points A life table constructed from national statistics on morbidity and mortality can be a valuable resource in helping patients to make decisions about their care Coordinating absolute and relative risks in a life table offers patients and doctors the opportunity to make more informed judgments Life table analysis allows patients and doctors to estimate the cumulative probability of dying of breast cancer before a patient reaches a given age The risk of developing or dying of breast cancer should be seen in the context of other life threatening conditions For women who smoke the cumulative probability of dying of lung cancer matches that of dying of breast cancer when women reach their early 50s; this probability doubles by age 65 and triples by age 75 Recently, notices in London's underground warned that women have a 1 in 12 risk of developing breast cancer. Women in America have been warned that their risk is 1 in 8; consequently, “fear …