• About Breast Cancer

  1. Who Gets Breast Cancer
  2. How Do I Know If I Have
     Breast Cancer?
  3. What Are My Treatment Options?

  ACFRO Breast Cancer
  Treatment Services

  1. IMRT/IGRT
  2. What to Expect During IMRT/IGRT Treatment
  3. High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy
  4. What to Expect During HDR Brachytherapy Treatment

  Resources

  

  

To speak with a patient care coordinator, please call:

512-687-1950

Who Gets Breast Cancer?

According the American Cancer Society, breast cancer affects approximately 13% (1 in 8) of American women.  Death rates have been declining since 1990; thanks to increased awareness, earlier detection and advances in treatment, only one in 35 are likely to die from the disease. Today, there are approximately 2.5 million breast cancer survivors across the country.

The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender and age. Women are 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than men, and two of three women diagnosed are over age 55.  Other risk factors include:

• Heredity – a woman’s risk doubles if a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) has had the disease.
• Race – white women are more likely to develop breast cancer than African American women, but less likely to die from it. Women of other ethnic backgrounds are less likely to develop or die from the disease than white women or African American women.
• Varied factors such as dense breast tissue, early menstruation, prior chest radiation, prior breast cancer (recurrence), significant weight gain after menopause and treatment with—or exposure to—the drug DES.
• Some studies show that certain lifestyle factors—no children or children later in life, recent use of birth control pills, post-menopausal hormone therapy, not breast feeding, alcohol use, overweight or obese, lack of exercise—can increase the chance of developing breast cancer.