ABC of Breast Cancer Awareness

October is recognized as The Breast CancerAwareness Month when international campaignsare organized to raise research and developmentfunds, enable patient support groups and moreimportantly encourage women to know the factsabout their leading cause of cancer death.Initiated in 1985, the program’s main objectiveis encouraging regular breast examination andmammography for screening of breast cancer.1Studies show that the movement has beensuccessful in promoting detection of breast cancerat earlier stages. Interestingly, it has been shown 2that during October, search trends for the term"breast cancer" across all Google domainssignificantly increased, indicating more concernand attention among the public and maybe amonghealth professionals, as well. This success can be 3attributed both to the specific events during thecampaign and to cumulative increases in publicawareness and the following behavioral changes.2The majority of breast cancer deaths occur inlow- and middle-income countries, whereawareness is limited and delayed admission iscommon. For instance in Iran, the incidence of 4, 5breast cancer disease is rising and many patientspresent with advanced stages due to delay inadmission and they are in average one decadeyounger than their western counterparts at the firstpresentation.6,7 Nevertheless, studies show thatawareness of women regarding breast cancerwarning signs and screening is very limited.8,9Studies from other countries with limitedresources also emphasize the urgent need forimproving breast cancer awareness, especiallybecause the future rising breast cancer mortalityrates are expected be greatest in these countries.