The recommended age to start getting them once a year is 50, but it is never too early to start. Mammograms have been shown to detect cancer up to two years before the tumor can be felt in the breast (Cancer Care). Other ways to detect breast cancer early on is by receiving clinical breast exams as well as by performing self-breast exams. Women are given a clinical breast exam every time they go to the doctor for their yearly physical, but it is very important for them to check themselves around once a month. Every woman should be familiar with the way their breasts look and feel so it easy to detect any changes that might occur. In order to know when to go to the doctor for any possible signs of breast cancer, there are many early symptoms one should recognize. These include: a new lump or mass in the breast, swelling of all or part of the beast, breast or nipple pain, nipple discharge, nipple retraction, and skin irritation or dimpling. Another …show more content…
Early detection of breast cancer has grown in ways nobody ever expected it to. Every woman should start getting a mammogram once a year at the age of fifty or even earlier if they feel it is necessary. This is the best and easiest way to detect breast cancer in a patient while still in an early stage. Finding out which stage of breast cancer a patient has is most effective when deciding which treatment is the right one. The medical field has seen drastic improvements made to breast cancer treatments in the past years. Getting surgery, a mastectomy, chemotherapy, or radiation are the main cures given to patients today. One would usually receive two of these together in best hopes of not having the disease return in the future. In addition to these treatments the world has sadly become familiar with, new ones are approaching constantly. There are many expected in the near future and even some being used today that are waiting for FDA approval to be used with earlier stages of breast cancer. With all of the alarming statistics associated with the diagnosis and death caused by breast cancer, everyone has come to realize that this disease is very serious and they want to do anything they can to prevent women from getting it and to help those who already have it. With these new treatments, the world is only getting closer to finding a cure to end breast cancer forever.