• Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, except for skin cancers. About 1 in 8 (12%) women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime.

• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. (Only lung cancer kills more women each year.)

• Death rates from breast cancer have been dropping since about 1989, with larger decreases in women younger than 50. These decreases are believed to be the result of finding breast cancer earlier through screening and increased awareness, as well as better treatments.

• Most women who have one or more breast cancer risk factors never develop breast cancer, while many women with breast cancer have no known risk factors (other than being a woman and growing older). Even when a woman with risk factors develops breast cancer, it’s hard to know just how much these factors might have contributed.

• Some risk factors, like a person\’s age or race, can\’t be changed. Other risk factors are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment or to personal behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, and diet. Some factors affect risk more than others, and your risk for breast cancer can change over time, due to things like aging or lifestyle.

• Simply being a woman is the main risk factor for breast cancer. Men can have breast cancer, too, but this disease is about 100 times more common in women than in men.

• As you get older, your risk of breast cancer goes up. Most invasive breast cancers (those that have spread from where they started) are found in women age 55 and older.

• Kaweah Delta recommends getting annual mammograms starting at the age of 40. Early detection saves lives.

• Kaweah Delta now offers 3D Mammography, which can detected 41% more invasive cancers, earlier.