Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Book your mammogram

By Dr. Terry Minuk

To The Haldimand Press

HALDIMAND—October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I am taking this opportunity to remind women to talk to their family doctor or nurse practitioner about getting checked for this disease.  Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Canadian women, with one in eight women developing the disease at some time in their life. The good news is that early diagnosis with mammographic screening and improvements in treatment have significantly improved survival. In fact, women who attend breast screening programs in Canada have a 40% improvement in mortality compared to those who are not screened.

Approximately 12,000 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in Canada in 2018 and there were 2,000 deaths from the disease. Many deaths were due to advanced breast cancer in women who were not screened or in patients who delayed seeing their doctor when they felt a lump. Many of those deaths could have been prevented.