| October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Denver Health physicians and nurses want women to be well-informed about the disease.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women, and is second to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. In 2005, an estimated 211,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed and an estimated 40,400 women will die from this disease.
Breast cancer can occur at any age, but it becomes more common as a woman ages. Although the incidence of breast cancer in younger women is increasing and women in their 20s and 30s are being diagnosed, more than 75 percent of new cases occur in women over age 50 who have gone through menopause.
Women whose mothers or sisters had breast cancer, who have never had children or had their first child after age 30, are at a slightly higher risk than other women. Other risk factors include menstruating at an early age (beginning periods before age 12), radiation therapy treatment to the breast or chest, dense breast tissue, hormone use, and drinking alcoholic beverages.
Mammography is the best available method to detect breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stage; there is an average of one to four years before a woman can feel a lump. Women over age 40 should have an annual mammogram and a clinical breast exam by a health care professional. | | All women should do monthly breast self-exams. Women ages 20 to 40 should have clinical breast exams every three years.
Breast cancer warning signs include a hard lump or thickening in the breast, swelling or redness, a sudden change in size, scaliness of the nipple, newly inverted or flattened nipple, unexpected nipple discharge, or dimpling of the skin. If a lump is felt, or a change in the breast occurs, a woman should see her health care provider as soon as possible, even if she recently had a mammogram.
Denver Health has a women’s mobile health services van nicknamed the "Mamm-O-Van." The large recreational vehicle travels the city to increase access to breast and cervical cancer screenings for women in Denver.
An all female staff of nurse care providers, mammography technologists, and bi-lingual clerical support work out of the van. Some underinsured or uninsured women may qualify for the Colorado Women’s Cancer Control Initiative to receive these important life-saving screenings.
The Mamm-O-Van is funded by grants from the Avon Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Editor’s note: Appointments for mammograms can be scheduled by calling Denver Health at 303-436-4949. |
