The Nation - News from Sept. 21, 1989

Urging all women 40 and older to have regular mammograms, First Lady Barbara Bush helped the National Cancer Institute launch a national breast cancer awareness campaign. Breast cancer strikes one in 10 American women and is the leading type of cancer among women in the United States. Mrs. Bush called on conferees at the Women’s Leadership Summit on Mammography in Washington to “get the word out” about early detection of breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute recommends that women with no symptoms have a mammogram every one to two years and a clinical breast exam every year beginning at age 40. After age 50, all women should have both exams annually, the cancer institute says.