Statistic


Statistic Breast Cancer in Malaysia 

* Breast cancer was the commonest overall cancer as well as the commonest cancer in women amongst all races from the age of 20 years in Malaysia for 2003 to 2005.

* Breast cancer is most common in the Chinese, followed by the Indians and then, Malays.

* Breast cancer formed 31.1% of newly diagnosed cancer cases in women in 2003-2005.


* The Age Standardised Rate (ASR) of female breast cancer is 47.4 per 100,000 population (National Cancer Registry Report 2003-2005). Amongst the Chinese, it is higher at 59.9 per 100,000 population, for the Indians, the ASR is 54.2 per 100,000 and it is lowest in the Malays at 34.9 per 100,000 population.

* A woman in Malaysia has a 1 in 20 chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime

* The cumulative life time risk of developing breast cancer for Chinese women, Indian women and Malay women were 1 in 16, 1 in 17 and 1 in 28 respectively.

* The peak incidence appeared to be 50-59 years old.


The statistics for Malaysia was sourced from the National Cancer Registry Reports 2002 and 2003. Over time, the pattern of cancers, including breast cancer will be better established. It is only with continued reliable data that important decisions on planning and policy management can be made for Malaysia.

Estimates by the International Agency for Research in Cancers (Globocan 2000) reported that in 2000, there were 3825 cases reported and 1707 deaths from breast cancer in Malaysia. Globocan 2000 estimated the crude rate of breast cancer in Malaysia of 34.9 per 100,000 population with Age Standardised rate of 41.9 per 100,000.






Breast cancer is more common in Chinese women compared to Malay women. 2% of these patients were below 30 years of age.  The majority of the cancer patients were in the 40-49 year age group when they were first diagnosed. However, this is NOT age-specific incidence but hospital incidence that could be influenced by the population it serves. Perhaps, there is a younger urban population or perhaps, the older folks prefer traditional/kampung treatment. 30-40% of the patients presented in the late stage and although women are now presenting with smaller tumours, the decrease in size is not significant.




This has been attributed to lack of breast cancer awareness amongst women, resulting in them seeing their doctor at a later stage. To improve the chance of cure, the disease should be diagnosed as early as possible. 

It has been suggested that breast cancer in Asians present at a younger age and tends to be more aggressive. Findings appear to confirm that breast cancer features in Asians are of the more aggressive type compared to the Caucasians. However, further comparative studies are required and already planned to evaluate the differences between the two groups (Asian and Caucasian breast cancer).







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