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This year in the United States an estimated 180,000 women will learn
they have breast cancer. Three-fourths of the cases of breast cancer
occur in women ages 50 or older, but it affects younger women, too (and
about 1,400 men a year).
More women are getting breast cancer, but no one yet knows all the reasons
why. Some of the increase can be traced to better ways of recognizing
cancer and detecting cancers
in an early stage. The increase also may be the result of changes in the
way we live-- postponing childbirth, taking replacement hormones
and oral contraceptives, eating high-fat foods, or drinking more alcohol.
The encouraging news is that, more and more, breast cancer is being detected
early, while the tumor is
limited to the breast and very small. Currently, two-thirds of newly diagnosed
breast cancers show no signs that the cancer has spread beyond the breast.
With prompt and appropriate treatment, the outlook for women with
breast cancer is good. Moreover, a majority of women diagnosed with
early stage breast cancer are candidates for treatment that saves the
breast.
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