By Ta’Leah Van Sistine, community reporter/editor
Although Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends on Sunday, HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals continue to encourage community members to know their risk factors.
About one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. The World Health Organization has said breast cancer is now the most common cancer globally.
The two HSHS hospitals said in a press release that screening mammograms can help detect breast cancer early.
“Often when a woman feels a lump in her breast tissue, a tumor has already formed and enlarged,” said Corrie Wajek, the radiology manager at both hospitals. “A screening mammogram can detect even the smallest abnormality and if it’s cancerous, treatment can begin before the tumor has time to grow or spread.”
The hospitals’ press release said women should talk with their health care providers about the right time for screening mammograms, especially women who are 40 years old or at high-risk.
It added that a mammogram schedule is based on an individual’s health. At age 40, women can begin regular screening mammograms, and by age 45, women should have a screening mammogram, and continue to have one, at least every other year.
Risk factors that can contribute to breast cancer include increasing age, dense breast tissue, alcohol-use and lack of physical activity, among other factors. Doctors also estimate that 5 to 10% of breast cancers are linked to gene mutations passed through generations of a family.
Those interested in finding more information about mammography can visit the HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital or HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital websites. To schedule a screening mammogram at either location, individuals can call (715) 717-1461.