INTRODUCTION
NOBODY WANTS TO TALK
ABOUT BREAST CANCER . . . BUT IGNORING THE PROBLEM WILL NOT SAVE LIVES.
WE BELIEVE THAT “BREAST-MAPPING”® AND ITS LESSONS WILL SAVE LIVES.”
THE BAD NEWS:
An estimated 175,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer cases will be
diagnosed in the U.S. in 1999 and about 43,700 breast cancer related deaths
will occur. A
We have experienced a 25.2% increase in invasive breast cancers in the
U.S. between 1973 and 1995.B
This rise is partially related to earlier diagnosis made possible by advances
in public awareness and more effective screening tools.
The American Cancer Society proclaims that “Every woman is at risk for
breast cancer.”1Eighty
percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history
of the disease.11
In addition, seventy percent of all breast cancer victims have no
known
risk factors whatsoever for the development of breast cancer.10
Furthermore, breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women1
(besides skin cancer) and the single leading cause of cancer death among
women ages 40 - 55.A
Presently, growing older and being a woman are the most common risk factors
associated with the development of breast cancer.12
Almost seventy-five percent of all breast cancers are diagnosed in women
over the age of 50.1
,11
That means more than 25% of all breast cancers are diagnosed in women under
the age of fifty. The odds today are 1 in 8 that you will be diagnosed
with breast cancer in your lifetime.3,
9
,C
