Abstract: Breast cancer cases have been increasing worldwide over the span of last few decades but the greatest increase is seen in developing Asian countries. In 2008 India, had about 115,000 new cases with 53,000 deaths a ratio of 2:1 (meaning 1 death for 2 detected cases). There is a lacuna in documentation of the true incidence of breast cancer in India. This retrospective study was carried out for the better understanding the socio-demographic pattern and risk factors of breast cancer patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital, located in north Karnataka in southern India. The record based descriptive epidemiological data pertaining to demography and risk factors for breast cancer patients for period of 2001-10 was analyzed. Totally 20,505 cases of cancer were reported during 2001-2010 of which 1,829 (8.92%) were breast cancer patients. The average age was 49.16 and the median age was 48. Maximum numbers were in the age group of 41-50. Most of the patients came from rural area and majority were from lower socioeconomic status. Obesity was seen in 34.00% of patients. The most common histology was infiltrating duct carcinoma (92.07%). Family history of cancer was seen in 107 (7.19%) of cases. This epidemiological study helps to understand the unique patterns in incidence of breast cancer in this region and to some extent the associated probable risk factors. The increasing burden of breast cancer in Indian women warrants rigorous epidemiological investigations of trends observed in different rural, semi-urban and urban populations.