{OCTOBER IS NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH} ___________________________________________________________

FACTS: ***Every two minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. ***This year more than 211,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected in the United States. ***One woman in eight who lives to age 85 will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. ***Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55. ***1,600 men are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and 25% are predicted to die. ***Seventy percent of all breast cancers are found through breast self-exams. Not all lumps are detectable by touch, therefore mammograms and monthly breast self-exams are a necessity. ***Eight out of ten breast lumps are not cancerous. If you find a lump, don't panic-call your doctor for an appointment. ***Mammography is a low-dose X-ray examination that can detect breast cancer up to two years before it is large enough to be felt. ***When breast cancer is found early, the five-year survival rate is 96%. This is good news! Over 2 million breast cancer survivors are alive in America today.
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OVERVIEW: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the second leading cause of cancer death (exceeded by lung cancer in 1985). Breast cancer is three times more common than all gynecologic malignancies put together. The incidence of breast cancer has been increasing steadily from an incidence of 1:20 in 1960 to 1:8 women today. The American Cancer Society estimates that 211,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed this year and 43,300 patients will die from the disease. Breast cancer is truly an epidemic among women and we don't know why. Breast cancer is not exclusively a disease of women. For every 100 women with breast cancer, 1 male will develop the disease. The American Cancer society estimates that 1,600 men will develop the disease this year. The evaluation of men with breast masses is similar to that in women, including mammography. The incidence of breast cancer is very low in the twenties (age) gradually increases and plateaus at the age of forty-five and increases dramatically after fifty. Fifty percent of breast cancer is diagnosed in women over sixty-five indicating the ongoing necessity of yearly screening throughout a woman's life. Breast cancer is considered a heterogenous disease, meaning that it is a different disease in different women, a different disease in different age groups and has different cell populations within the tumor itself. Generally, breast cancer is a much more aggressive disease in younger women. Autopsy studies show that 2% of the population has undiagnosed breast cancer at the time of death. Older women typically have much less aggressive disease than younger women.
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MISSION: The purpose of this Group is to bring together patients, family, friends, loved ones, and those with a interest in learning about breast cancer to discuss important related topics, such as the effects of breast cancer on patients as well as the coping of famlies and loved ones. Also, we can try to discuss any questions you may have about the subject via Discussion Board. Please note that I am not a Doctor (not quite yet...just a lowly 4th year medical student), but I'm willing to try to answer questions to the best of my knowledge and via valid medical references. Your membership to this group is optional; however, you are more than welcome to participate!
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The following data has been obtained from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. website: "http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/". All information presented herein is in accordance with the Privacy Policy set forth by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.