Breast Cancer Awareness Month Breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in women. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 40,800 women in the U.S. will die of breast cancer in the year 2000, and 182,800 new cases will be diagnosed.
Breast cancer ranks second among cancer deaths in women.
However, there is some encouraging news. More and more, breast cancer is being detected early through mammography screening. Currently, two-thirds of newly diagnosed breast cancers show no signs that the cancer has spread beyond a woman s breast. Studies done over the past 30 years clearly show that regular mammography screening significantly reduces the death rate from breast cancer in women over the age of 50. Recent results show that regular mammography screening also reduces death rates from breast cancer in women who begin screening in their forties.