After nonmelanoma skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in American women.

According to the American Cancer Society, women should have their first mammogram at about age 40, then once every year. Fewer than a third of American women do this.

One out of eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. The majority of all breast cancer diagnoses are in women over age 50.

Aging, personal history of breast cancer, family history of breast cancer, previous breast biopsy, early menstruation, childbirth after 30 or no childbirth, and menopause after 50 can all be risk factors increasing the likelihood of the disease. The majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no identifiable risk factors.

Treatments for breast cancer can include lumpectomy (limited surgery removing the cancer but not the entire breast); mastectomy (surgical removal of the breast); chemotherapy or hormone therapy; biologic therapy (using the body's own immune system to fight the disease); and bone marrow transplantation.

If detected early, breast cancer can often be treated effectively with surgery that preserves the breast. The survival rate is greater than 95 percent for women who find breast cancer at its earliest stage.