A Celebration of Life and Survivorship!

We celebrate October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and celebrate we do because we have so much to be thankful for!  Never before have women’s health issues received so much attention as they do now.

Mammography standards have come under federal scrutiny, requiring optimum performance of equipment, technologists, radiologists, and physicists all in an effort to ensure quality and increase the effectiveness of a simple, yet lifesaving exam.  Insurers now cover mammograms on a routine bases.

Biopsy techniques have been refined to a needle and a band-aid.  Medications have been discovered and continue to be discovered, that reduce our risk for developing breast cancer.  Treatment options abound for the management of breast cancer.  Survival rates are rising.  Genetic testing has become available.  We have more tools to detect and treat breast cancer now than ever before.

I am encouraged by the scientific reports and statistics that reveal a definite downwards trend in mortality related to breast cancer.  I am optimistic, as supported by this same literature, that breast cancer can be beaten if detected early.  I am confident that through a breast health program that combines lifestyle choices, regular breast exams and mammograms, and risk assessment and reduction, we will relegate breast cancer to a small hurdle that can be overcome. 

Keep the faith and keep up the good work—our time has come and it is now!

Katherine M Cyran, M.D.