Approximately one in eight women born today in the United States will get breast cancer during her life – after skin cancer, breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer in women.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual opportunity to increase awareness of breast cancer as well as the importance of screening and early detection. As a nation of patients, survivors, and loved ones, we have made tremendous strides over the years in the fight against this disease, but there is still more work to be done.
The American Cancer Society reports that the overall death rate from cancer in the United States has fallen some 20 percent from its peak in 1989. In that same time, the rate of breast cancer deaths has fallen by more than 30 percent.
The continued decline in the mortality rate is an important indicator of success in the fight against cancer, made possible in large part by advances in early detection and treatment.
Women age 40 and older should speak with a doctor about when to start getting mammograms and how often to get them. A clinical breast exam should also be part of a periodic health examination for women in their 20s and 30s. Talk to a doctor about your risk, especially if a close family member has had breast or ovarian cancer.
While we have witnessed significant progress through the years, the statistics are still alarming. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2013 alone, more than 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, and nearly 40,000 will die from the disease. Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women.
Unfortunately, we are all too familiar with cancer and the personal toll that it takes on patients and their families. Almost everyone in the nation has been touched by cancer in some form, whether as a survivor, or as a family member or loved one of a cancer patient.
