COLUMBIA — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. About 42,000 American women die each year from breast cancer. MU Health Care Surgical Oncologist Dr. Nicole Nelson said breast cancer was one of the most common cancers in the United States. It’s the second leading cause of cancer death in women behind lung cancer.
Dr. Nelson said there was no sure way to prevent breast cancer. She said there were things you could do that might lower your risk, such as changing risk factors that are under your control.
Dr. Nelson said, “There are a lot of good studies in the last decade or two looking at lifestyle modifications. Maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy, and exercising regularly, all those things actually do play a pretty significant role in decreasing a woman’s estimated risk.”
Finding breast cancer early and getting state-of-the-art cancer treatment were 2 of the most important ways to prevent deaths from breast cancer. If breast cancer was found early during a screening, it was easier to treat successfully. Dr. Nelson said regular screening tests were the most reliable way to find breast cancer early.
Dr. Nelson said, “With our traditional mammograms, the smallest we were able to pick up was about a centimeter. With our 3-D mammograms, we are actually able to pick up things that are even smaller.”
American Cancer Society researchers said a woman has a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer. For men, the average lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 1 in 726.
