Clinic promotes Breast Cancer Awareness Month

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tonnette Thompson
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Sheppard's mammography clinic has taken steps to ensure women across the base remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Along with the year-round information pamphlets, a gift booth awaits patients as they enter the clinic, offering everything from lunch bags to trinkets such as keychains, pens and notepads.

On average, the mammography clinic sees 200 patients per month, offering both screening and diagnostic mammograms. Of those, approximately 10 percent of the mammograms detect a cancerous growth, according to Kelly Lange, a mammographer with the 82nd Medical Group.

According to the National Cancer Institute, new cases of breast cancer in the United States are estimated at 178,480 in women and 2,030 in men. Of these, an estimated 40,460 women and 450 men will die of cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the U.S., second only to skin cancer. Each year, more than 211,000 American women learn they have breast cancer.

Women over age 40 are encouraged by the American Cancer Society to have screening mammograms yearly; monthly self-exams are suggested for women of all ages.

Sheppard's mammography clinic hopes to increase the overall number of mammograms they perform, Maj. Robert Maxey, staff radiologist for the 82nd Medical Operations Squadron, said.

"We want to get people screened before there's a lump, before there's anything," Major Maxey said. "The goal of screening is to catch it before it becomes a problem."

Those most at risk of developing breast cancer are women over 40, women who show symptoms, and women with a family history of cancer. However, the mammography clinic is urging all women here at Sheppard to schedule a mammogram.

Ms. Lange referenced the website www.komen.org/, claiming that despite ongoing debate as to whether screening mammograms are important, it is still the single best tool widely available today for early detection of breast cancer.

"Screenings can detect cancer as small as a pin dot," she said.

Regular medical examinations offer another highly recommended method for detecting breast cancer. According to Major Maxey, they are as crucial to cancer detection as any mammogram.

"Mammograms aren't a foolproof method of detection," he said. "Sometimes a physical can detect something the mammogram can't, and vice versa."

Major Maxey said that sometimes a woman can miss something during a self-examination that a trained physician would notice.

"To catch more cancers, you need both regular physicals and mammograms," he said.

Those interested in scheduling a mammogram need a referral from their primary care provider. For more information, contact the mammography clinic at 676-6033.