Cancer Facts for Women

Getting regular screening tests is the best way to find breast cancer early, when treatment is more likely to be successful.

The American Cancer Society recommends the following for women at average risk for breast cancer:

• Women ages 40 to 44 should have the option to start yearly breast cancer screening with a mammogram (x-ray of the breast).
• Women ages 45 to 54 should get a mammogram every year.
• Women 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every 2 years, or can continue yearly screening.

Screening should continue as long as a woman is in good health and is expected to live at least 10 more years.

If you're getting a mammogram for breast cancer screening, you should know:

• What to expect
• What the test can and can't do
• What your breasts normally look and feel like so you can tell a health care provider about any changes

Women at high risk for breast cancer should begin screening at age 30 with a breast MRI and a mammogram. You might be at high risk if you:

• Have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation or have a parent, brother, sister, or child with these mutations
• Had radiation therapy to your chest before you were 30 years old
• Have other inherited gene changes known to increase your risk
• Have a 20% or greater lifetime risk of breast cancer based on risk assessment tools

Talk with a health care provider about your risk for breast cancer and the best screening plan for you.

Regular colorectal cancer screening helps prevent colorectal cancer or find it early, when treatment is more likely to be successful.

Most colorectal cancers start with a polyp – a small growth in the colon or rectum. Certain screening tests can remove polyps before they turn into cancer.

The American Cancer Society recommends the following for people at average risk for colorectal cancer:

• Everyone should start regular screening at age 45.
• People who are in good health and with a life expectancy of more than 10 years should continue regular colorectal cancer screening through age 75.
• For people ages 76 to 85, the decision to be screened should be based on a person’s preferences, life expectancy, health, and screening history.
• People over age 85 should no longer get colorectal cancer screening.

Screening tests for colorectal cancer

Screening can be done either with a stool-based test, which looks for signs of cancer in a person’s stool, or a visual exam, which is an exam that looks at the colon and rectum.

Stool-based tests

Options include:

• Fecal immunochemical test (FIT)* every year
• Guaiac-based fecal occult blood test (gFOBT)* every year
• Stool DNA test with fecal immunochemical testing (MT-sDNA or sDNA-FIT or FIT-DNA) every 3 years*

Visual (structural) exams of the colon and rectum

Options include:

• Colonoscopy every 10 years
• CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy)* every 5 years
• Sigmoidoscopy* every 5 years

*If a person gets screened with a test other than colonoscopy, any abnormal test result should be followed up with colonoscopy.

If you’re at high risk

If you're at high risk of colorectal cancer you might need to start screening before age 45, be screened more often, or get specific tests. You might be at higher risk if you have:

• A personal history of polyps, colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, or radiation to your abdomen (belly) or pelvic area 
• A family history of polyps, colorectal cancer, or a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome

There are some differences between these tests to consider, but the most important thing is to get screened, no matter which test you choose.

Talk to a health care provider about which tests might be good options for you and to your insurance provider about your coverage. If you don't have insurance or can't afford cancer screening, find free and low-cost screening options.

The American Cancer Society recommends yearly lung cancer screening with a low-dose CT (LDCT) scan for people who:

• Are ages 50 to 80 years and smoke or used to smoke

AND

• Have at least a 20 pack-year history of smoking

A pack-year is equal to smoking 1 pack of cigarettes per day for a year. For example, a person could have a 20 pack-year history by smoking 1 pack a day for 20 years or by smoking 2 packs a day for 10 years.

Before deciding to get screened, people should talk to their health care provider about the purpose of screening, how it's done, the benefits, limitations, and possible harms of screening. People who still smoke should be counseled about quitting and offered resources to help them quit.

Smoking tobacco is the leading cause of cancer. If you don’t smoke, don’t start.

If you smoke, takes steps to quit using tobacco. You can also call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or visit Empowered to Quit for help quitting.

Other ways you can help lower your risk:

• Avoid radon exposure.
• Stay away from secondhand smoke.
• Avoid or limit exposure to cancer-causing chemicals at home or in your workplace.

The American Cancer Society recommends all children get the HPV vaccine between the of ages 9 and 12, when the vaccine works best. But teens and young adults should still get the vaccine through age 26.

Vaccination at the recommended ages will help prevent more cancers than vaccination at older ages. If you're between the ages of 27 to 45, talk to your doctor to find out if HPV vaccination might benefit you.

Regular screening can help find:

• Changes in your cervix that can be treated before they become cancer
• Cervical cancer in its early stages, when treatment is more likely to be successful

The American Cancer Society recommends the following for people who have a cervix and are at average risk for cervical cancer.

Primary HPV testing

Testing only for HPV infection on a cervical sample collected by your health care provider is the preferred screening option. This test should be done every 5 years. 

Other testing options

Other options for cervical cancer screening include:

Self-collected* HPV testing, every 3 years: For this test, you collect your own sample by inserting a soft swab into your vagina. It can be done privately in a clinic, a doctor’s office, or at home. A health care provider needs to order the test. 

Co-testing, every 5 years: In some places, HPV testing is combined with a Pap test, which is a test that looks at cervical cells under a microscope. Your health care provider collects the cervical sample for this type of testing.

Pap test alone, every 3 years: If none of the other screening tests are an option, you can be screened with a Pap test alone every 3 years. 

*Self-collection should only be done using tests and collection devices approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These are only available through your health care provider.

When to stop screening

You can stop screening at age 65 if one of the these applies to you: 

• You’ve had HPV testing collected by a provider or co-testing every 5 years, and your last 2 tests were normal.
• You’ve had self-collected HPV testing every 3 years, and your last 2 tests were normal.
• You’ve had Pap tests every 3 years, and your last 3 Pap tests were normal.
• You’ve had a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix) and don’t have a history of a serious precancer or cervical cancer in the last 25 years.

This guideline applies to you even if:

• You’ve received the HPV vaccine.
• You’re in a long-term relationship with the same partner, have stopped having children, do not have sex with men, or are not sexually active.
• You’re in menopause.

There are no screening tests or exams to find endometrial cancer early in women at average risk.  

The most common symptoms of endometrial cancer are abnormal vaginal bleeding or spotting, especially in postmenopausal women. Belly pain, pain while peeing, or pain during sex can also be symptoms.

Let your health care provider know right away if you have any of these symptoms and they might be early symptoms of endometrial cancer.

The American Cancer Society recommends that women who have or might have hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome) be offered yearly testing with an endometrial biopsy and/or transvaginal ultrasound starting at age 35.

Currently, there are no recommended cancer screening tests for ovarian cancer, so it is important to know the signs and symptoms. These can include:

• Belly swelling with weight loss
• Gas, bloating, and loss of appetite
• Back, belly, or pelvic pain
• Feeling like you need to pee all the time

If you have these symptoms daily for more than a few weeks, talk to your health care provider.

Some women at high risk because of a strong family history or inherited gene changes might consider preventive surgery. If you have an increased risk, talk to your health care provider about whether this might be right for you.

Practicing sun safety is one of the most important things you can do to lower your risk of skin cancer:

• Seek shade and limit time in the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the sun's rays are strongest.
• Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 on exposed skin all year round. Reapply sunscreen every 2 hours or after swimming or sweating, even if it's waterproof.
• Wear protective clothing, sunglasses that have UV protection, and a hat.
• Avoid tanning beds and sun lamps.

The best way to catch skin cancer early is to check your skin for changes. Many health care providers suggest checking your skin about once a month.

• Know what the moles and spots on your skin look like and report any changes to a health care provider right away.
• Ask about having a skin exam done during your regular health checkups.