October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer after skin cancer and the second deadliest to women after lung cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2007, over 170,000 women will be diagnosed and 40,000 women will die from breast cancer in the United States.

Why screening?
Screening looks for cancer before any symptoms are seen because treatment can be more effective if started early. If your screening tests return abnormal results, your doctor may advise you to have diagnostic tests.

Mammogram
Screening mammograms are x-ray pictures of the breast and use very small doses of radiation to show lumps or specks that might be cancerous or precancerous cells. A mammogram can often show a lump in the breast before it can be felt.

TRICARE will cover annual mammograms or women age 39 and older, or 35 and older for those at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Clinical breast exam
Your doctor will check your breasts and the surrounding areas for lumps and looks for differences in size or shape during a clinical breast exam.

TRICARE covers physical examinations annually for women age 40 and older and at your physician's discretion for women younger than 40 who are at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Risk factors
There is seldom an explanation why one woman develops cancer and another does not. Research has provided some factors that doctors believe increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer: