Did you know that one in eight women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point? The good news is that many women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. Here are 10 facts you should know about breast cancer:
1. According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, breast cancer is the number one cancer among women in the United States, and one woman dies every 13 minutes from the disease. 2. Due to the use of regular mammography screening, most breast cancers are found at an early stage, before symptoms appear. 3. When detected and treated early, five-year survival for localized breast cancer is 99 percent. 4. According to the American Cancer Society, women age 40 and older should have screening mammograms to find cancer early. 5. Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam as part of a routine health exam every three years. 6. Breast self-exam is an option for women in their 20s, and they should report breast changes to their health professional. 7. After breast cancer is diagnosed, tests are done to find out if the cancer cells have spread within the breast or to other parts of the body. The stages of cancer range from O to IV and determine the treatment and potential outcome of the disease. 8. More than 2,000 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2014. Since men rarely consider breast cancer a possibility, they typically delay seeking treatment and get diagnosed at a late stage of the disease. 9. We don’t know what causes breast cancer, but we know that certain risk factors such as age, genetics, health history, and diet all contribute to breast cancer risk. 10. Only five to ten percent of breast cancer can be attributed to genetics.
For a sample of Sanford-Burnahm’s research into breast cancer visit beaker.sbpdiscovery.org/2014/04/proteins-conspire-to-make-breast-cancer-cells-resistant-to-drug-treatment. For more information about breast cancer visit www.cancer.org.