Routine care is the best way to keep you and your breasts healthy. Although
detecting breast cancer at its earliest stages is the main goal of routine
breast care, other benign conditions, such as fibrocystic breasts or cysts, are
often discovered during routine care.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United
States, other than skin cancer.
 According
to the National Cancer Institute, when breast cancer is found early and is still
localized (restricted to the site of origin, without evidence of spread), the
relative survival rate, when measured at five years, is 96 percent. When breast
cancer is found at a late stage (cancer that has spread to distant parts of the
body), the survival rate at five years is 21.3 percent.
Although the incidence of breast cancer is increasing - one out of seven
women will develop breast cancer - mortality rates have remained fairly stable
over the past several years due to early detection and improved treatment.
If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, the most important thing for you to
remember is that it is not a hopeless condition. Early detection and modern
therapy with a combination of surgery, radiation, drugs, or hormones can help
many patients.
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