Breast Cancer Awareness

According to the National Institutes of Health, Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives. Breast cancer kills more women in the United States than any cancer except lung cancer. No one knows why some women get breast cancer, but there a number of risk factors. Risks that you cannot change include:

• Age - The chance of getting breast cancer rises as a woman gets older.
• Genes - There are two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, that greatly increase the risk. Women who have family members with breast or ovarian cancer may wish to be tested.
• Personal factors - Beginning periods before age 12 or going through menopause after age 55.

Other risks include being overweight, using hormone replacement therapy, taking birth control pills, drinking alcohol, not having children or having your first child after age 35 or having dense breasts.

Symptoms of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in size or shape of the breast or discharge from a nipple. Breast self-exam and mammography can help find breast cancer early when it is most treatable. Treatment may consist of radiation, lumpectomy, mastectomy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy.

Men can have breast cancer, too, but the number of cases is small.

To view a tutorial on breast cancer, go to: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/breastcancer/htm/index.htm.

The CDC tells us...

Not counting some kinds of skin cancer, breast cancer in the United States is: The most common cancer in women, no matter your race or ethnicity. The most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women. The second most common cause of death from cancer among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women. In 2005: 186,467 women and 1,764 men developed breast cancer. 41,116 women and 375 men died from breast cancer.

For more information on Breast Cancer try these sites:

General Breast Cancer Information
Breast Cancer and Genetic Screening
Screening and Testing for Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer and Pregnancy
More CDC.Gov Links
Breast Cancer Prevention
Other Ways to Reduce Cancer Risk