Women are encouraged to seek breast cancer prevention

With Breast Cancer Awareness Month coming to an end, women are still being urged to take preventive measures to help with detection and treatment.

Lindsey Shirley, director of Regional Integrated Marketing for the American Cancer Society said breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women except for skin cancers.

BreastCancer.Org statistics show about one in eight U.S. women or 13% will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of a lifetime. In 2021, an estimated 281,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in U.S. women, and about 2,650 new cases of invasive breast cancer in men. The lifetime risk of breast cancer for men is about one in 883.

About 43,600 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2021 from breast cancer, according to BreastCancer.Org. That organization reports death rate has been steady in women under 50 since 2007, but the rate has continued to drop in women over 50. The overall death rate from breast cancer decreased by one percentage point from 2013 to 2018.

Some people believe breast cancer is an inherited condition, but only 5-10% of cancers are due to an abnormality inherited from mother or father. Statistics indicate that 85-90% of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and the “wear and tear” of life in general.

A healthy lifestyle can help with prevention. Following a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, limiting alcohol and getting regular exercise are recommended to reduce risk, though those things cannot eliminate all risk.

In women under 45, breast cancer is more common in black women than white women. Overall, black women are more likely to die of breast cancer. For Asian, Hispanic and Native American women, the risk of developing and dying from breast cancer is lower. Ashkenazi Jewish women have a higher risk of breast cancer because of a higher rate of BRCA mutations.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions have posed a challenge for women to get screened for early detection, but women are urged to get back into the habit of going to the doctor for regular checks.