Breast Cancer
Facing cancer can be scary, and most people have lots of questions. Our cancer topics cover many types of cancer, including breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and many more. Whether you just found out you have cancer or have been living with it for a while, you’ll find useful information such as treatment options and tips for living with cancer.
Important Facts
- Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States.
- Breast cancer deaths have declined over time but remain the 2nd leading cause of death among women overall.
- Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanic women.
- In the United States, approximately 245,000 cases of breast are diagnosed each year. *Breast cancer can begin in different areas of the breast such as in the ducts, the lobules, or in some cases, the tissue in between.
Risk Factors You Cannot Change
There are a number of risk factors, one of which is simply getting older. Other risks are having a known BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, (a genetic test is required). Having dense breast tissue, personal history of breast cancer, certain non-cancerous breast diseases or a family history of breast cancer also places you at risk. Additional factors are not having children, taking birth control, previous treatment using radiation therapy, and women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol DES.
Risk Factors You Can Change
Ways to reduce your risk for breast cancer.
Keeping a Healthy Weight
Getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep
Limit Your alcohol intake
Breastfeeding Your babies
Exercising Regularly
Symptoms
Unusual changes in the breast can include:
Swelling of all or part of the breast | Skin irritation or dimpling | Breast pain | Nipple pain or the nipple turning inward Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin | Nipple discharge other than breast milk | Lump in the underarm area
Screening: There are several ways to check for breast cancer
1. Self Examination
monthly examinations that help you to detect any changes in appearance or feel of your breast tissue. It can be done in the shower, lying down or standing in front of a mirror.
2. Mammography
x-ray that examines breast tissue for suspicious areas
3. Diagnostic
Ultrasound
use of a sonogram (scan that uses sound waves to take pictures of an area) to detect abnormalities in the breast tissue
Treatment: There are many ways to treat breast cancer.
There are many ways to treat breast cancer. All treatments are completely depended on the specific type of breast cancer and how much it has spread. Course of treatment include surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy (a treatment that blocks the cancer from getting the hormones they need to grow) biological therapy (a treatment that uses the immune system to fight the cancer cells), and radiation therapy.
Breast Cancer Fact Sheet
Download & Share with family and friends. All of our free educational tools include access to our community partners who offer free services to residents of Fulton and DeKalb Counties.
Community Partners
Good Samaritan Health Center
1015 Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy
NW Atlanta, GA 30318
404-523-6571
www.goodsamatlanta.org
Center for Black Women's Wellness
477 Windsor St SW
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-9202
www.cbww.org
Urban Health & Wellness
859 Metropolitan Pkwy SW
Atlanta, GA 30310
404-618-6983
www.uhw.clinic
Sisters By Choice
5910 Hillandale Drive, Suite 104
Lithonia, GA 30058
770-987-2951
www.sistersbychoice.org