The statistics on breast cancer are startling:

• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.
• Approximately 300,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
• One in eight women is expected to have breast cancer in her lifetime.

The American Society of Breast Surgeons recommends women begin screening for breast cancer at the age of 40 and continue getting mammograms each year. For women who have high risk for breast cancer or a family member who had breast cancer at an early age, screenings should begin 10 years earlier than the age the person in the family developed breast cancer.

Three tests
“The best way of detecting breast cancer is the triple test: self-screening, annual mammograms and a physician- or nurse practitioner-directed exam,” said Dr. Robert Mocharnuk, director of the Breast Center at Simons Cancer Institute in Springfield.

Early detection is key
The earlier breast cancer is detected, the better the prognosis. “Those who have early stage breast cancer actually do very well,” said Dr. Mocharnuk.
The five-year survival rate for various stages:
Stage 1 breast cancer patient has a survival rate of nearly 100%.
Stage 2 breast cancer, which could possibly include lymph node involvement, has a survival rate of 93%.
State 3 breast cancer survival rate is 72%.
Stage 4 or metastatic breast cancer has a survival rate of only about 20%.
Most insurance companies and Medicare are required to cover mammography screening for breast cancer. The Regional Cancer Partnership of Illinois will provide free mammograms for uninsured and under-insured women age 40 and older on Mondays in October at the locations listed below.

Mammogram Mondays
– Memorial Medical Center, 4 – 7 pm at the Baylis Building, 747 N. Rutledge, Springfield. Call 217-788-4042 (Memorial Mammography) for an appointment.

– St. John’s Women’s Center, 8 – 11 am at 1100 Lincolnshire (near the Aldi’s on South 6th St.), Springfield. Call 217-757-6400, ext. 3 (St. John’s Women’s Center).

–  Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, 3 – 4:30 p.m. at 200 Stahlhut Drive. Call 217-605-5108. ALMH is a first-time site for the Mammogram Mondays program.

Copyright ©SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois