For most women, the National Cancer Institute recommends regular screening mammograms every one to two years starting in their forties or older. Women at increased risk may need to follow a different schedule based on their doctors' recommendations.

Routine mammograms are the best way to detect breast cancer early, before a lump is felt and when treatment is most likely to be effective. Regular mammograms are especially important as women grow older, since most breast cancer occurs in women over 50.

In 1997 alone, approximately 180,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer, and about 44,000 died from the disease. Detecting breast cancer at the earliest possible stage is the best thing you can do to increase your chances of surviving the disease.

To help women get the facts, NCI has developed information and materials about mammograms, including information about the risk factors for breast cancer (See side bar) and screening recommendations for women of different ages. Consider the following facts about breast cancer:

FACT: Except for skin cancer, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women in this country. Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer in cancer-related deaths.

FACT: A woman's risk for breast cancer increases with age and continues to increase over her lifetime (See charts).

FACT: Most women who get breast cancer have no known risk factors, such as family history of the disease.

FACT: Scientific studies have shown that regular screening mammograms can help decrease the chance of dying from breast cancer. The benefits are greater for women over the age of 50, although women in their forties who have regular mammograms also may have a reduced risk of dying from breast cancer.

Women no longer need to be confused about following the best recommendations for detecting early breast cancer. Increasing your chances of survival from breast cancer could be as simple as "getting the facts." --a report from the NIH Word on Health, June 1998

To get answers to your questions about cancer and to obtain free copies of NCI booklets on breast cancer and mammography, call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237); TTY 1-800-332-8615. The following publications are available:

The Facts About Breast Cancer and Mammograms (NCI Publication No. 97-3836);

Understanding Breast Changes: A Health Guide for All Women (NCI Publication No. 97-3536);

Mammograms...Not just once,but for a lifetime (NCI Publication No. 97-3418).

Cancer information for the public, including information on breast cancer and mammograms, is also available on the NCI website at <http://www.nci.nih.gov>, (select Information for Patients, Public, and the Mass Media; select Public; then click on the "About Mammograms" button).

For additional information, reporters and editors can contact:

Mass Media Branch National Cancer Institute Phone: 301-496-6641 Fax: 301-496-0846 E-mail: johnstonj@occ.nci.nih.gov

Mary Sullivan Editor, NIH News & Features magazine Phone: 301-496-1766 Fax: 301-402-0395 E-mail: ms41x@nih.gov

One or more of the following conditions puts a woman at higher than "average risk" for breast cancer:

• You've had breast cancer before.

• Laboratory evidence has confirmed that you're carrying a specific mutation or genetic change that increases your susceptibility to breast cancer (BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations).

• Your mother, sister, daughter or two or more close relatives, such as cousins, have had breast cancer (especially if diagnosed at a young age).

• You've been diagnosed with another type of breast disease (not cancer, but a condition--atypical hyperplasia--that may predispose you to cancer), or you've had two or more breast biopsies for benign disease, even if no abnormal cells were found.

• You are 45 years of age of older and have at least 75 percent dense breast tissue on a mammogram.

• You had your first child at age 30 or older, or have never had children.

• You've received chest irradiation for conditions such as Hodgkin's disease at age 30 or younger.