Announcements: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month --- October 2011

Weekly

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time to increase awareness of the most common cancer among women and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States (1). In 2007, the most recent year for which data are available, 202,964 women received a diagnosis of breast cancer, and 40,598 women died from the disease (1).
Mammography can detect breast cancer at its earliest, most treatable stage, up to 3 years before lumps can be detected during breast self-examination or clinical examination. For 21 years, CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program has helped low-income, uninsured, and underserved women gain access to breast and cervical cancer screening and follow-up services. The program has assisted approximately 3.9 million women, provided approximately 9.8 million screening examinations, and diagnosed nearly 53,000 cases of breast cancer. Additional information about CDC activities that promote early detection and treatment of breast cancer is available at http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast.

Reference

1. US Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999--2007 incidence and mortality web-based report. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC and National Cancer Institute; 2010. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/uscs. Accessed September 29, 2011.

Announcements: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month --- October 2011October 7, 2011 / 60(39);1359