It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month

With October being National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (and today is National Mammography Day), Gothamist turns its attention to the recently released Third Annual New York Medicare Mammography Snapshot, which revealed a decline in New York City screening mammograms.

The press release, which was issued by IPRO, a not-for-profit health care quality evaluation and improvement organization, revealed declining screening mammographies citywide especially among minorities. Mammography rates in the five boroughs were low overall, and ranged from 36.2% in the Bronx (down 1.5%) to 42.1% in Manhattan (down 0.6%), with a citywide average of 39.1% (down 1.2%). Black women across the state had a mammography rate of 37.8%, showing a 1.5% decrease from the previous two years' data, while the rate for whites was 48.4%, down 1.9%. In total, less than half of NYC female Medicare beneficiaries receive annual mammograms while less than one third of minority women do.

Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer in women (excluding skin cancer) and is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. However, screening mammograms can detect disease in its earliest stages when it is most amenable to treatment. The American Cancer Society recommends the following screening guidelines for patients with no history of breast disease: