October 08th, 2013

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. Breast Cancer is most common cancer found among women worldwide. Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast. The damaged cells can invade surrounding tissue, but with early detection and treatment, most people continue a normal life. Age is a woman's single most important risk factor for developing breast cancer. Statistics show a woman living in the United States has a 12.5 percent, or a one in eight chance, of developing breast cancer in her lifetime. And African-American women are more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage, when the cancer is less treatable, leading to breast cancer death rates 38 percent higher for black women. Here are some facts about breast cancer:

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women.

Each year it is estimated that over 220,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die.

In 2013, an estimated 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed among US women, as well as an estimated 64,640 additional cases of breast cancer. That year, approximately 39,620 US women were expected to die from breast cancer.

An informed church and community are the strongest witness for our Lord. My prayer for First Baptist is that we will put on the “whole army of God’ by arming ourselves with adequate knowledge and the life saving information that is at our disposal. We stand in sacred solidarity with the women of our church, communities, and families as embark upon this fight against breast cancer.

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