October 2, 2006

Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm is again recognizing October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, bringing additional awareness to a disease that is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in thousands of Michigan women annually.

“Early detection of breast cancer is the key to survival,” said Janet Olszewski, Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health. “With regular screening, breast cancer is more likely to be detected at an earlier age, when it is most treatable.”

Breast cancer ranks third among cancer deaths in Michigan women (after lung and colon cancer) and second in the nation (after lung cancer), and it is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among Michigan women. The American Cancer Society estimates that 7,070 Michigan women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, with 1,360 women expected to die from the disease.

“Since National Breast Cancer Awareness month began, mammography rates have more than doubled for women age 50 and older and breast cancer deaths have declined,” said Olszewski. “However, there are still women who do not take advantage of early detection. We must continue to stress just how important it is to receive screening mammograms and clinical breast exams at regular intervals.”

Those at greatest risk of not receiving regular mammograms and breast exams include:

· Women age 65 and older-They are less likely to get mammograms than younger women, even though breast cancer risk increases with age.

· Hispanic women-They have fewer mammograms than Caucasian women and African American women.

· Women below poverty level-They are less likely than women at higher incomes to have had a mammogram within the past 2 years.

During October, women are encouraged to get screened for breast cancer. The Michigan Cancer Consortium recommends that women get an annual clinical breast exam and mammogram starting at age 40.

“If all women age 40 and older took advantage of early detection methods-mammography plus clinical breast exam-breast cancer death rates would drop up to 30 percent,” said Max Wicha, MD, Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Co-Chair of the Michigan Cancer Consortium’s Breast Cancer Advisory Committee.

Although every woman is at risk of developing breast cancer, some factors increase a woman’s likelihood of developing breast cancer. These risk factors include:

· Increasing age

· Early menarche (before age 12) or late menopause (after age 55)

· Never giving birth or having a first child after age 30

· Use of hormone replacement therapy for more than 5 years

· History of radiation exposure for Hodgkin’s Disease or radiation of the thymus

· Decreased level of physical activity, increase alcohol use (2-5 drinks/day), obesity, or high fat diet

· History of previous abnormal breast biopsies

· Strong family history that includes:

o Two or more relatives (on the same side of the family) diagnosed with breast cancer at any age

o One relative diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age

o A male relative diagnosed with breast cancer

o Being a known or suspected carrier of either BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations

Free breast cancer screening and diagnostic services are available to underserved women in Michigan through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP). Since the program began in 1991, more than 114,000 women have been screened through the program with nearly 1,900 breast cancers diagnosed. To be eligible for the BCCCP, a woman must:

· Have an income <250% of the federal poverty level

· Be uninsured or underinsured

· Be age 40-64 for breast/cervical cancer screening and for diagnostic follow-up of breast/cervical abnormalities

· Be age 18-39, have been identified with a cervical abnormality through the Title X/Family Planning Program, and referred to the BCCCP for cervical cancer diagnostic follow-up

For more information on the BCCCP, please call 800-922-6266 or visit www.michigancancer.org/bcccp.

For more information about breast cancer, please visit the following websites:

· American Cancer Society –www.cancer.org

· Michigan Cancer Consortium – www.michigancancer.org

· Michigan Department of Community Health – www.michigan.gov/cancer

· National Cancer Institute – www.cancer.gov