First Line of Defense Against Breast Cancer Aside from diet and lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, prevention of most cancers centers around early detection, finding cancer at an early, more curable stage.
Breast cancer is no different.
And together mammography and breast self-exam are a woman's first line of defense. Unfortunately, many women have fears about mammography and breast self-exam or find these vital cancer screening tests embarrassing, so they don't perform them regularly. Its primary purpose is to detect tumors when they are not yet large enough for a woman or her doctor to feel. It's a simple procedure that is performed in an out-patient setting, a hospital radiology clinic or doctor's office. The American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute and other health and women's groups recommend a woman undergo a mammogram every one or two years between the ages of 40 and 50.