Pink Under the Microscope

JOSEPH ALAN NEY-JUN
Staff Writer

Although breast cancer is the third most deadly, it is also the most common cancer in women. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) prioritizes breast cancer ahead of all other cancer research, care and prevention programs. How much time, money, and effort is put into breast cancer?
Receiving more attention than other types of cancer, breast cancer is the most common of cancers, but is half as lethal as lung cancer. Finding a way to cure or better treat a more common ailment will help to remedy other forms of cancer, including lung cancer.
Methods of detection have vastly improved over visual detection. MRI scans, ultrasounds, and Molecular Breast Imaging can detect the cancer in its earliest stages. In 2012 a teenage named Brittany Wenger created an application to detect breast cancer based off a simple test. A mastectomy- surgical removal of the entire breast- was once the only method of removing breast cancer. As technology advances, mastectomies rarer. While there are alternate methods to chemotherapy, radiation is still the most effective way to eliminate existing cancer cells.
Breast cancer is a high priority for the American government as part of the whole battle against cancer. However, due to the recent government shutdown, these government organizations are unsure of their futures alongside the rest of America. In the meantime, non-government organizations will continue to carry the torch during Breast Cancer Awareness Month!