ROANOKE, Va. – One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
A majority of them don’t have breast cancer in their family history.
That’s why doctors are pushing for early detection this Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A specialist at LewisGale said there is an increase in women getting diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age.
We’re told facilities have lowered the age to start getting yearly mammograms to 40 years old.
“As a woman, it’s the best screening tool that we have to find early breast cancer so as a society we are very good at treating early breast cancer and a mammogram can find cancers well before we can see any signs of it or feel a lump,” Audrey Steier, physician’s assistant and breast specialist at LewisGale.
She said if you do have a family history of breast cancer, LewisGale has a high-risk program to help navigate and educate patients.