HELENA – October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and staff at St. Peter’s Health are reminding people to get screened regularly.
According to the C.D.C., Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer (not counting some skin cancers) for women in the United States and highest rate new cancer for Montanans.
Women are encouraged to give themselves a monthly self-breast exam to check for irregularities and women more than 40 years old should get a mammogram every year.
“When women are doing their monthly breast-exam, any time they find something that’s new and different they need to let a healthcare professional know,” said Alissa Abentroth, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Abentroth serves as the Director of the Women’s Health Institute and Breast Care at St. Peter’s Health and states that getting catching cancer early plays a huge role in treatment.
“In all cancers, but specifically in breast cancer, that early detection is going to be key.,” said Abentroth, “That is why we’re pushing for awareness and pushing for screening. That way we catch cancers at a much earlier stage and they’re going to be much more curable.”
Mammography screenings are capable of detecting early signs of cancer that may be too small or subtle to feel by hand.
According to Abentroth, mammograms are considered one of the best tools in the early detection of breast cancer.
St. Peter’s sees about 90 breast cancer diagnosis a year and C.D.C. data indicates that 1 in every 8 women will develop breast cancer at some point in their life.
For more information about breast cancer treatment and options visit here.
