• Breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women other than skin cancer. After lung cancer, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women.
• A mammogram can detect breast cancer 1-4 years before a woman feels a lump in her breast.
• An estimated 1,050,346 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and 372,969 women will die from the disease worldwide this year.
• In the past 50 years in the United States, the risk of contracting breast cancer has nearly tripled. In the 1940's, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer was 1 in 22. In the year 2003, the risk is 1 in 8.
• The incidence of breast cancer in men in on the rise. This year, about 1,300 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer, a 30 percent increase from 1998 statistics.
• After accounting for all known risk factors (such as genetics, family history, early menstruation, late menopause, childbirth after age 30, use of oral contracenptives early in life, more than four years of hormone replacement therapy, obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, and exposure to radiation) as many as 50 percent of breast cancer cases are still unexplained.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (www.bcrfcure.org)

In 2003-2004, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation made grants of $14.5 million to support 80 researchers across the U.S., and internationally in Great Britain, Spain and Israel. 85% of all funds raised go directly to breast cancer research grants and awareness programs.

The Breast Cancer Fund (www.breastcancerfund.org)

The Breast Cancer Fund raises money to fund research into the possible environmental causes of breast cancer, including chemicals and environmental toxins.

The American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org)

The American Cancer Society is "the nationwide community- based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service."

Breastcancer.Org (www.breastcancer.org)

Breastcancer.org is a web-based nonprofit organization for breast cancer education.

_{Information for this article from: Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov), American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), The Breast Cancer Fund (www.breastcancerfund.org), and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (www.bcrfcure.org).}