Facts 

1. Women 75 years old and older are at the highest risk of incurring breast cancer.  The rate of occurrence increases with age (2).
2. Not every lump is breast cancer. Some small lumps will appear to grow before a woman begins her monthly cycle.  Also, some lumps may be simply be non-cancerous cysts (2).
3. Men can develop breast cancer. Each year1600 men will get breast cancer and 400 will die from it (3).
4. Breast cancer is NOT a communicable disease that can be passed from person to person (3).
5. A mammogram can detect breast cancer up to two years before they can be detected by touch (3).
6. Breast size does not affect the risk rate of getting breast cancer (3).
7. Antiperspirant have not proven to be cancerous (1).
8. Under wire bras have not proven to be cancerous (1).
9. Smoking has not proven to be cancerous, although it has a negative affect to the overall health of a person (1).
10. Induced abortions have not proven to be cancerous (1).
11. Breast implants have not proven to be cancerous (1).
12. Mammograms are safe (1).
13. Mammograms may not be 100% accurate, but on average they are 90% accurate in determining breast cancer for women without any symptoms (1). .
14. Women who have a prophylactic mastectomy can still get breast cancer (1).
15. Injury or trauma to the breasts do not cause cancer (1). 

  2.   Statistics –

1. 183,000 new cases are diagnosed each year (3).  “Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2002 about 203,500 new cases of invasive breast cancer (Stages I-IV) will be diagnosed among women in the United States. In situ breast cancer accounts for about 54,300 new cases each year. In situ (Stage 0) is noninvasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer. Breast cancer also occurs in men. An estimated 1,500 cases will be diagnosed among men (1).”
2. Although men can develop breast cancer, women develop breast cancer 100 times as often (2).
3. If you drink between 2 and 5 alcoholic beverages per day you are 50% more likely to develop breast cancer (2)
4. 43,000 women die each year from breast cancer (3).
5. Approximately 78% of women do not perform their own monthly breast exam (3).
6. One woman in eight who lives to age 85 will develop breast cancer during her lifetime (3).
7. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55 (3).
8. Seventy percent of all breast cancers are found through breast self-exams (3).
9. 70% of women that get breast cancer have no risk factors (3).
10. African-American women have twice the risk of getting breast cancer then Caucasian women (3).
11. Every 3 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer (3).
12. Eight out of ten lumps are benign, or not cancerous (3).
13. Every eleven minutes a woman will die from breast cancer (3).
14. 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer during her life time (3).