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A resolution in support of Nashville women diagnosed with breast cancer and of breast cancer awareness in the month of October and throughout the year.
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WHEREAS, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States exceeded only by heart disease, and one of every four deaths in the United States is due to cancer; and
WHEREAS, one in eight women -- 12.5% of women in America -- will contract breast cancer within their lifetime; and
WHEREAS, cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells that can result in death if not treated. Although causes of cancer are not fully understood, numerous factors are known to increase risk, including many that are potentially modifiable including tobacco use, excess body weight, and lack of sleep and other factors that are not such as inherited genetic mutations. These risk factors may act simultaneously or in sequence to initiate and/or promote cancer growth; and
WHEREAS, while having a mother or sister with breast cancer can double a woman's risk, less than 15% of women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease; and
WHEREAS, 968 women in Tennessee died of breast cancer in 2019, of whom 80 were Nashvillians; and
WHEREAS, according to the American Cancer Society, in the U.S. in 2021, there will be an estimated 281,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 49,290 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) diagnosed in women and an estimated 44,130 breast cancer deaths; and
WHEREAS, from 2008 to 2017, invasive female breast cancer incidence rates increased by about 0.5% per year; and
WHEREAS, since its peak in 1989, the female breast cancer death rate declined by 41% in 2018 because of earlier detection through screening, as well as increased awareness of symptoms, and improved treatment. This decrease translates to approximately 403,200 fewer breast cancer deaths during this time period than would have been expected in the absence of this progress. ...
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