Breast cancer is common, but not as common as heart disease. Breast cancer kills. It is the leading cause of cancer death for women aged 40 to 55. Every woman is at risk. Some factors increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, such as entering menopause after age 50 or not having children.
Early detection is the best method for successfully treating the disease.
By its count, there are currently about 2 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States. Monthly breast self-exams and annual clinical breast exams for women 20 and older, combined with annual mammograms for women 40 and older, are the best methods for early detection of the disease. Mammograms can help in the fight against breast cancer. The death rate from the disease could be reduced by one-third if every woman 50 and older who needed a mammogram had one, estimates the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Even so, mammograms miss at least 20 percent of breast cancers, according to Breast Cancer Action, a San Francisco-based organization for breast cancer survivors and their families.