Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in Maryland and in the United States.
Although the breast cancer death rate has decreased by about 10 percent in Maryland since 1984, the State continues to have the 10th highest breast cancer death rate in the nation. When breast cancer is detected early, there is a 96 percent likelihood that a woman will live five years or more after her diagnosis. Mammograms can detect cancers too small to be felt by a breast self-exam. Mammograms can miss approximately 10-15 percent of breast cancers. For this reason, it is important for every woman to get a breast exam by her doctor or health care provider close to the time she receives her mammogram.