Figures released by King's College in London, published in the British Journal of Cancer, show there are currently 340,000 older women with the disease out of the 570,000 patients of all ages.
This will quadruple to 1,220,000 in 2040, out of a total of 1.68 million breast cancer sufferers, according to research funded by Macmillan Cancer Support.
By 2040, three in four of all breast cancer survivors will be 65 and over -- an increase from 59 percent today. The predicted increase for older women is almost double the rise for younger age groups.
Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "The NHS is already struggling to provide adequate care for older patients."
Source: IANS