CHECK YOURSELF PROGRAM

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

The Keep A Breast Foundation™ Check Yourself Program creates and distributes, informative, engaging, thoroughly researched, and digestible breast health education through printed materials, blogs, and our Keep A Breast app.

The primary focus of Check Yourself is to raise awareness on the importance of doing a monthly self-check. We advocate the self-check as we so commonly come in contact with young women who have found their own lumps (both benign and malignant) “by accident”. With 40% of diagnosed breast cancers being self-detected (according to the John Hopkins Medical Center), establishing what is "normal" for you is an important step to knowing your body.

Over 300,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the US each year. Approximately 12,000 of those diagnosed are under the age of 40. When breast cancer is detected early (in the localized stage) the 5-year survival rate is 98% (National Cancer Institute). We believe that through a monthly self-check routine, more people are likely to detect changes in their bodies quickly, will seek medical advice, and potentially detect cancer early. Knowledge is Power.

EARLY DETECTION

The rate of breast cancer death is decreasing. It has declined by 40 percent over the past few decades. The reason? Early detection. While many focus on mammography and other such medical testing, doing a routine self-check can play in survival. Self-checks are especially important for young people as generally, women do not start getting mammograms until the age of 40, creating the illusion that breast cancer only affects women 40 and older.