Advocates at the same time reminded the community that breast cancer can be prevented and women should be aware about the available medical treatment.
”There’s now prevention and we don’t want this disastrous disease to continue to flourish in our island,” the mayor said.
Flores encouraged cancer prevention advocates to continue their information campaign and programs against cancer.
According to the Commonwealth Cancer Association, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women nationally.
Breast cancer is exceeded only by lung cancer, and the chance of developing invasive cancer at some time in a woman’s life is about one in eight, CCA stated.
The National Cancer Institute reported that 192,370 new cases of female breast cancer were diagnosed in 2009 and 40,170 would die from the disease.
In his proclamation, Flores said the mammogram is recognized as the most effective method of detecting breast changes that may be cancer long before physical symptoms can be seen or felt on women 40 years of age and older.
He said clinical breast exams performed by health care providers and a breast self-examination should be practiced by women 20 years of age and older on a regular basis.
