As National Breast Cancer Awareness month comes to a close, we are encouraged by the progress we have seen in this fight. According to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer over their lifetime and almost 250,000 new cases were estimated to be reported this year alone.
Clearly, breast cancer is not some abstract disease that affects “other people.” Breast cancer hits very close to home. If it hasn’t yet, it likely will.
That’s a sobering thought.
During October, The Dispatch has participated in this month-long awareness campaign through a series of stories that have touched on several aspects of the disease — from personal stories of victims, to treatment to support groups.
When faced with the staggering numbers, we might be inclined to feel a bit hopeless, yet those on the front lines say progress is being made.
Breast cancer remains a killer, yet the diagnosis is not the automatic death sentence it once was.
A better understanding of the disease, advances in treatment and after-care have expanded the survival rates significantly.
For all of the medical advances, one of the greatest weapons in this fight is awareness. Medical professionals will tell you that early detection remains the greatest tool available to win the fight.
The American Cancer Society recommends that women have yearly mammograms at age 45, but urge women to consider beginning yearly mammograms at age 40, based on talking with their physicians to determine if they have heightened risk factors, most often a history of breast cancer in their families.
Awareness also leads to action. Over the years, as greater attention has been focused on this disease, funding for research and treatment has boomed.
Those funds are critical. Many of the advances we have seen can be attributed to the infusion of dollars devoted to this fight.
And there’s plenty of fighting that remains.
As noted, this year alone, a quarter-million women in the U.S. will face this terrifying prospects of breast cancer.
Awareness means that they are not in this fight alone.
We encourage everyone to join the fight. We urge you to give generously to the American Cancer Society and its programs.
Sooner or later, breast cancer will be a personal fight for all of us.
That is both a sobering thought and an incentive to do our part.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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