News
Just the facts about breast cancer
Knowing the truth can help you protect yourself
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed non-skin cancer in U.S. women. A woman is diagnosed every three minutes — 213,000 cases this year.
About 41,000 U.S. women will die of the disease this year, the equivalent of one every 13 minutes. It's the No. 2 cancer killer of women, after lung cancer. (The biggest overall killer is heart disease.)
The good news: More women are surviving breast cancer. Since 1990, death rates have declined by more than 2 percent each year. The outlook is even better for women under age 50.
Inflammatory breast cancer is rare (6 percent of cases) but aggressive. Symptoms may include swelling, redness and warmth in the breast, often without a lump. The skin may appear bruised and pitted.
Men can get breast cancer. About 1,700 cases are expected in the United States this year. Men account for 1 in 100 cases.
Most women diagnosed with cancer (80 percent) have no close relatives with the disease.
If you do have an extensive family history of breast cancer, you can see a genetic counselor for advice.
Your risk increases with age. Nearly eight in 10 cases are found in women age 50 and older. See the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool.
The risk factors that you can change are your weight and physical activity level. An overweight woman's extra fat tissue generates estrogen, which feeds tumors.
Mammography is 85 percent accurate. That's why women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam every three years and women 40 and older should have one each year.
Women also can do self-exams monthly. A health professional can teach you how, or go to www.womenshealth.gov/faq/bsefaq.htm or click on Symptoms & Diagnosis at www.breastcancer.org.
Digital mammography has been shown to be significantly better than film mammography in screening women under age 50, or women of any age who have very dense breasts.
Underarm antiperspirants and underwire bras do not cause breast cancer, despite rumors spread by e-mail. Injury to the breast doesn't cause cancer, either.
Silicone breast implants cause formation of scar tissue in the breast, but several studies have found they don't increase your risk of breast cancer.