Despite Awareness Campaigns, Breast Cancer Myths Linger

Title: Despite Awareness Campaigns, Breast Cancer Myths Linger

Author: Tara Parker-Pope

Publication: New York Times Well blog

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

For the next four weeks we will be awash in a sea of pink as women’s groups promote October as breast cancer awareness month. But while awareness is high, many women still have some key facts about breast cancer all wrong.

Today the National Breast Cancer Coalition released a survey of 1,000 women that finds several areas in which misinformation abounds. Over half of women, for instance, said family history is the most common risk factor for breast cancer. But the truth is that genes known to increase the risk are rare and are estimated to account for only 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancer cases.

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