Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Chances are everyone has been touched during our lives by someone who has had breast cancer. Perhaps it was a mother, sister, aunt, a close friend or yourself. While signing the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) Reauthorization Act, President Bush addressed how breast cancer has touched his life. Jenna Welch, Laura Bush’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 78. Her disease was diagnosed early, and she received effective treatment and now, she is cancer-free.

Breast cancer is a disease that forms in the tissues of the breast, usually in the ducts or tubes that carry milk to the nipple, and in the lobules or glands that make the milk. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for American women. Over the past 50 years, the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer has increased each year which is likely due to better public education about the disease and better as well as earlier detection.

Today the statistics are that 1 in nearly 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, or 12.3% of US women in their lifetime. This year an estimated 180,000 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Although rare, an estimated 1,500 mean will be part of that number. Our focus today will be on breast cancer in women.

Effective breast cancer testing procedures such as the mammogram diagnose breast cancer before it has a chance to spread to other areas of the body. Such early detection also allows early intervention and is the best way to increase the chance of survival. Early detection also makes treatment more effective. Most breast cancer in the early stages can be effectively treated with surgery that preserves the breast. According to the American Cancer Society, 63% of breast cancers are now discovered at an early stage, before the cancer has spread to other organs or body tissues. The five-year survival rate following treatment for early stage breast cancer is 96%. The American Cancer Society also states that the mortality rate from this disease could decrease by 30% if all women age 50 and older who had a mammogram annually or as often as recommended by their physician.

Particularly vulnerable groups are women who immigrated to the U.S. within the past 10 years as they often under-use breast cancer screening tests. If you are a woman who falls into the category or you know such a woman, we will give the information on a program that will assist you to get the testing you need.