American Cancer Society is Working Tirelessly to Finish the Fight Against Breast Cancer

Awareness extends past October

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – As October comes to an end and so does National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Society urges you to join the fight to end breast cancer once and for all. The American Cancer Society invests more in breast cancer research than any other cancer and is doing the most for people with breast cancer today to end the disease tomorrow. While significant progress has been made in the fight against breast cancer, more needs to be done.
With more than 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer and more than 40,000 deaths from breast cancer estimated in 2014, breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women in the U.S. other than skin cancer, and second leading cause of death after lung cancer. In Alabama, 3,660 women are expected to be diagnosed with the cancer. Of that number, about 690 will die.
“The American Cancer Society has played a role in nearly every major breast cancer research breakthrough in recent history and we encourage all women to take steps every day to reduce their risk from breast cancer by maintaining a healthy weight, getting regular exercise, and limiting alcohol intake,” said Rhonda Mendez, spokesperson at the American Cancer Society. “Thanks in part to the progress we’re making together, death rates from breast cancer have dropped by 34 percent since the early 1990s. This translates to 203,000 lives saved that would have otherwise been lost to breast cancer.”
The Society helped establish mammography as the standard to find breast cancer early, and recommends that women 40 and older have a yearly mammogram and clinical breast exam. Also, the Society recommends that women ages 20 to 39 receive a clinical breast exam at least once every three years.
Breast cancer is the number one reason people call the American Cancer Society. The Society provides help and support 24 hours a day to anyone facing a breast cancer diagnosis through its round-the-clock call center at 1-800-227-2345 and on the web at www.cancer,org. and is doing the most to help people with breast cancer today while working tirelessly to find cures to end the disease tomorrow.
Here are a few ways to join the Society in the fight to finish breast cancer:
·         Get started at cancer.org/fightbreastcancer.
·         Register and walk in the Tuscaloosa Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event, one of our nearly 300 events across the U.S. This event will happen November 1st at 9 a.m. at Government Park, 601 23rd Avenue in Tuscaloosa.
·         Volunteer to help people with breast cancer in your community. Look Good Feel Better and Reach to Recovery offer free support to all women facing a diagnosis and trying to overcome the emotional and physical side-effects of cancer and subsequent treatment. Volunteers drive patients to treatment in Road to Recovery, a free program that offers assistance by helping patients get to and from lifesaving treatment.
·         Take action to help make fighting breast cancer a top national priority at acscan.org/makingstrides.

The American Cancer Society’s nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network℠ (ACS CAN), continues to fight back against breast cancer by working to increase funding for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) that provides low-income, uninsured and underinsured women access to breast and cervical screening tests. Current funding only enables the program to serve less than one in five eligible women ages 40 to 64 nationwide. ACS CAN encourages anyone touched by this disease to let Congress know that support for the NBCCEDP is important, and that an increase in funding for this program is vital to its continuation. To get involved, or to learn more about this effort, please visit acscan.org/breastcancer.