“There’s no question since even the beginning of the 21st century that the rate of death from breast cancer for the first time in history really is dropping off” says Dr. Eric Goldsmith, an oncology surgeon with Lee Memorial Health System. The reason: heightened awareness.

“There was a time period when women were not encouraged to do breast self exams,” explains Dr. Goldsmith. In fact, incidents of breast cancer have decreased by 2% each year over the past 6 years. “It’s no question that increasing self examination, increasing use of mammography is definitely attributed to this,” adds Dr. Goldsmith. He encourages women to stay on top of their monthly self-exams.

“A lot of people ask, ’what am I looking for?’ Well, the answer is you are not looking for anything. What you’re really looking for is a change, you know your body better than anybody,” explains Dr. Goldsmith.

Having a yearly mammogram is also important, especially if there’s a history of breast cancer in the family.