As a woman, your lifetime risk for all cancers combined is now one in three. Cancer ranks as the second most frequent cause of death for U.S. women, after heart disease. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2014, an estimated 810,000 American women will be diagnosed with cancer, and about 275,000 women will die of some form of the disease. Yet a recent survey found that only about 50 percent of women discussed the pros of cancer screening with their doctors before making a screening decision — still far more than the 15 percent who talked with their doctors about the cons of screening.
If your doctor isn’t talking with you about cancer screening, make it your job to bring it up at your next visit. Screening tests can be as simple as at-home breast exams or as sophisticated as DNA tests for BRCA gene mutations. Screening can catch cancer at early stages and help you to make your personal best health choices.