• A woman's chance of getting breast cancer rises as she gets older, if she had a mother, sister or daughter with the disease, and if she has never had children or had her first child after age 30.
  
• Over 70 percent of the women that get breast cancer have no family history or other risk factors for breast cancer.

• One in ten women in Oklahoma will develop breast cancer.

• About 450 Oklahoma women die each year from breast cancer.

• In the United States White, non-Hispanic women have the highest number of cases of breast cancer and Korean women have the lowest number of cases.

• Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in the United States.

• Black women find out they have breast cancer at a later stage and have the highest rate of death from breast cancer than women of other races and ethnicities.

• A mammography can find breast cancer up to 2 years before a lump can be felt, but mammograms and/or ultrasounds are not 100% effective in finding breast cancer.

• If breast cancer is found early, 90% of the cases can be treated successfully.

• Every woman should perform breast-self exams monthly.

• Beginning at age 40, you should have mammograms every 1 to 2 years. When you turn 50, you should have a mammogram every year.

• Your clinician or doctor should give you a breast exam once a year.

• Over two million breast cancer survivors are alive in America today.

• Each year, about 192,000 women will develop breast cancer, and about 40,200 women will die from the disease.

• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for all women and is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55.

• Each year about 1,500 men develop breast cancer and about 400 men die from the disease.

• In the United States, one out of nine women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.

• A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes in the United States.

• A woman dies from breast cancer every 13 minutes in the United States.

• Breast cancer cannot yet be prevented. If a woman has a very high risk, such as several close blood relatives who have had the disease the drug tamoxifen may reduce the risk of breast cancer.

• In the United States, over 80 percent of women who have biopsies for possible breast cancer are found to be non-cancerous.

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1. What is fibrocystic disease and does having it mean a woman has a greater chance of getting breast cancer?

Fibrocystic disease is the term used for any non-cancerous process in the breast and does not increase the chances of getting breast cancer.

 

2. If a woman does not have a family history of breast cancer, does it mean she won't get the disease?

No!!!! It does not. 70-80% of women who get breast cancer has no family history of the disease. But, women who do have a family history of breast cancer have a greater chance of developing the disease.

 

3. Is a mammogram 100% accurate in finding early breast cancer?

A mammography is a very important test for finding breast cancer early, but it is not 100% accurate. Any woman who has a lump and has a normal mammography still needs to have it checked by a doctor.

 

4. Older women don't have to worry about breast cancer, right?

Wrong! The older you are, the higher the chances of developing breast cancer. So all women need to worry about breast cancer.

 

5. Does having the breast removed to treat breast cancer mean the cancer is gone forever?

Having the breast removed (mastectomy) will not guarantee that the cancer will not return. Eight to ten percent of women will have a return of cancer and there is also the possibility of the cancer spreading to other organs (metastases). Lumpectomy and radiation are as good as mastectomy in preventing breast cancer from returning.

 

6. Is it possible for men to get breast cancer?

Yes, men are also able to get breast cancer. In fact, about 1,400 to 1,500 men develop breast cancer each year in this country.

 

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