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	. It began with a sister’s promise. It ends with a cure.   Every Woman is at Risk One in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime.  An estimated 2,000 women in Arkansas will be diagnosed and 400 will die from breast cancer this year.  Who is at risk? Your wife, your friend, your sister, your daughter, your neighbor, your mother, your niece, yourself.   Breast Cancer Screening Methods Breast Self-Exam: Learn the normal look and feel of your breasts, and check for changes every month.  But if you feel a change or a new lump in your breasts or underarms, ask your doctor to examine the area. Clinical Breast Exam: A breast exam by a trained medical professional should be part of your regular medical checkup.  If it is not, ask for it.  It includes visual examination and carefully feeling the entire area of breast tissue.  If you are 40 or older, schedule your mammogram close to the time of your clinical breast exam. Mammogram: A mammogram is an x-ray picture of the breast.  A mammogram can find many cancers before they can be felt.  Find your age on the chart below and read to see which screening methods you should do and how often you should do them.   Age 20 to 39 Breast self-exam      Once a month Clinical exam             Every three years   Age 40 and older Breast self-exam      Once a month Clinical exam             Once a year Mammogram                        Once a year     *Family history could indicate a need for earlier mammograms.  Consult your physician.   BreastCare (toll-free), 1.877.670.CARE.  Free mammograms available for those who qualify.    For information about breast health, call the Komen Foundation’s National Toll-Free Breast Care Help Line: 1.800.I’M AWARE® and the Komen award-winning website: www.komen.org.         What affects your risk of getting breast cancer? The causes of breast cancer are not fully known. However, health and medical researchers have identified a number of factors that increase a woman's chances of getting breast cancer. These are called risk factors. Risk factors are not necessarily causes of breast cancer, but are associated with an increased risk of getting breast cancer. Importantly, some women have many risk factors but never get breast cancer, and some women have few or no risk factors but do get the disease. Being a woman is the number one risk factor for breast cancer. For this reason, it is important to perform regular breast self-exams, have clinical breast exams, and have routine mammograms in order to detect any problems at an early stage. There are some risk factors you can control, and others you cannot. Remember, even if you do not have any of these risk factors, you can still develop breast cancer. Age: a major factor A woman's chance of getting breast cancer increases with age. For a woman born today, her risk by age 30 is 1 out of 2,525. by age 40: 1 out of 217 by age 50: 1 out of 50 by age 60: 1 out of 24 by age 70: 1 out of 14 by age 80: 1 out of 10 Source: NCI SEER Program, 1993. Factors that may increase your risk of breast cancer Factors you can control having more than one drink of alcohol per day taking birth control pills for 5 years or longer can slightly increase your risk for breast cancer not getting regular exercise currently or recently using some forms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for 10 years or longer, which may slightly increase risk being overweight or gaining weight as an adult being exposed to large amounts of radiation, such as having very frequent spine x­rays during scoliosis treatment Factors you cannot control getting older — the older you get, the greater your risk of breast cancer having a mother, daughter, or sister who has had breast cancer having the mutated breast cancer genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 having had breast cancer being young (<12 years) at the time of your first period, starting menopause later (>55 years), never being pregnant, or having your first child after age 30 years.* *NCI, 1999 Get the facts on breast cancer Because the causes and cure of breast cancer are not yet fully known, many people have misconceptions about the disease. Here is what we know for sure: Myth Fact I'm only 35. Breast cancer happens only in older women. While the risk of breast cancer increases with age, all women are at some risk for getting breast cancer. Women with a family history of breast cancer are the ones who typically get breast cancer. Actually, a majority of women who get breast cancer have no family history of the disease. However, a woman whose mother, sister, daughter, or grandmother had breast cancer has an increased risk. If I don't have a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, I won't get breast cancer. Just because you do not have a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, you can still get breast cancer. About 90-95% of women who get breast cancer actually do not have an inherited form of breast cancer, or a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.* Women with more than one risk factor are the ones who typically get breast cancer. A majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no known risk factors. All women are at risk. You can prevent breast cancer. Because the cause of breast cancer is not yet fully known, there is no way to absolutely prevent it, although the antiestrogen drug tamoxifen can help reduce the risk. Early detection and treatment are the keys to surviving breast cancer. If I had a mammogram every year, I would be exposed to too much radiation, and that would cause cancer. The small level of radiation from x-rays and mammograms is not enough to cause cancer. Breast feeding can protect me from breast cancer. Breast feeding may decrease a woman's risk of getting premenopausal breast cancer, but does not lower a woman's risk of postmenopausal breast cancer   . .