Associates in OB GYN Recognizes National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). NBCAM educates women about the importance of early detection. More and more women are getting mammograms to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages. As a result, breast cancer deaths are on the decline. Encourage the women in your life to get mammograms on a regular basis. Since the program began in 1985, mammography rates have more than doubled for women age 50 and older and breast cancer rates have declined.
This is exciting progress, but there are still women who do not take advantage of early detection at all and others who do not get screening mammograms and clinical breast exams at regular intervals.
* Women age 65 and older are less likely to get mammograms than younger women, even though breast cancer risk increases with age.
* Hispanic women have fewer mammograms than Caucasian women and African American women.
* Women below poverty level are less likely than women at higher incomes to have had a mammogram within the past two years.
* Mammography use has increased for all groups except American Indians and Alaska Natives.
"If all women age 40 and older took advantage of early detection methods - mammography plus clinical breast exam - breast cancer death rates would drop much further, up to 30 percent"
"The key to mammography screening is that it be done routinely - once is not enough."
Probability of Breast Cancer in American Women
The National Cancer Institute estimates that, based on current rates, 12.2 percent of women born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in their lives. Because rates of breast cancer increase with age, estimates of risk at specific ages are more meaningful than estimates of lifetime risk. To calculate an individual's estimated risk, see the
Breast Cancer Assessment Tool.
This information and more can be found at the
National Cancer Institute website.
For a list of questions you can ask your provider about breast cancer risk factors and prevention, please go to our webpage at
http://associatesinobgyn.net/breastcancerriskquestions.
