Pink Ribbon Shows Support for Breast Cancer

It's a disease that affects one in eight women if a woman lives long enough.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Doctor Greg Boone is a surgeon at Licking Memorial Hospital and hopes one thing will come out of this year's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

"That we can raise everyone's awareness. Even those people who have not been touched by it. So that we can hopefully either prevent the disease from happening or find it at its earliest possible stage," says Greg Boone, general Surgeon at Licking Memorial Hospital.

Boone says breast cancer can appear out of nowhere and it's the "un-luck" of the draw if you get it.

"We can't prevent breast cancer from happening. It's a common illness that will affect one in eight women in this country if they live long enough."

Boone tells us breast cancer's impact can be minimized if detected early and there are three ways to do that.

"If we can detect it early, then it can be cured, and there are really three keys to early detection. Self exams on a monthly basis, see your physician for a yearly exam, have screening mammography on a regular basis."

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been around for 20 years.

National Mammography Day is October 15th.