ABSTRACT
In 1998 the American Cancer Society (ACS) estimated that close to 180,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer would be diagnosed that year (ACS, 1998). Breast cancer is currently the second-leading cause of women’s cancer-related deaths (ACS, 1998). It is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women aged 40-55, and approximately one in eight women will incur breast cancer at some point in their lives. When breast cancer is diagnosed and treated while the cancer is still localized, women have an over 90% five-year survival rate. When detection and treatment come at later stages of the disease, the survival rate is much lower (ACS, 1998).
