Breast Cancer

Facts About Breast Cancer | Risk Factors | Early Detection | Breast Self-Exam | Warning Signs |Breast Biopsy | Treatment Options | Follow-up & Rehabilitation | Web Resources

Fast Facts About Breast Cancer

• One in eight women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
• Mammograms can detect cancer up to two years before a lump can be felt.
• Eighty percent of women who develop breast cancer have no family history of the disease.
• In Arizona, breast cancer is the leading form of cancer among women. An estimated 2,800 women will be diagnosed, and 600 women will die of breast cancer in Arizona this year.
• An estimated 182,800 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, making it the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women.
• Breast cancer is currently the second leading cause of cancer death in women, with an estimated 41,200 women losing their lives to this disease during 1997--one woman every 13 minutes.
• More than 97 percent of women whose breast cancer is found and treated early with no spreading beyond the breast,
  will survive.

Common Myths About Mammography
and Breast Cancer

• "I don't need a mammogram if I don't have any symptoms." Mammography can detect breast cancer up to two years before you or your doctor can feel a lump.

• "There's no history of breast cancer in my family, so I don't need to worry about getting it."
  Eighty percent of women who develop breast cancer have no family history of the disease...one out of eight American women will get breast cancer.

• "I had one normal mammogram, so I don't need another."
  Once is not enough. Women age 40 and over, should request a mammogram every one to two years. Mammography can detect breast cancer when it is in its earliest, most treatable stages.

• "Mammography gives off unsafe levels of radiation."
  The radiation exposure from mammography equipment is very small. It is far more dangerous to allow breast cancer to go undetected than to be exposed to the very low dose of radiation.

• "Mammograms are painful."
  A mammogram is an x-ray of your breast. Although the procedure may be slightly uncomfortable, it does not hurt.

• "If a mammogram does find something, it's too late."
  When breast cancer is found in its earliest stages, your chances of surviving are at least 90 percent or better.

Additional information about breast cancer is available at the Breast Cancer Clinical Trial Information website. The website is hosted by the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center's Telemedicine Program. While this web site is designed for physician use, the public also can access its list of studies.

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Facts About Breast Cancer | Risk Factors | Early Detection | Breast Self-Exam | Warning Signs |Breast Biopsy | Treatment Options | Follow-up & Rehabilitation | Web Resources

If you would like more information about the Arizona Cancer Center, please contact our COPE Line at 1-520-626-6044 or send E-mail to copeline@azcc.arizona.edu.