Doctors Urge Women In Oklahoma To Get Screened For Breast Cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the Stephenson Cancer Center is encouraging folks to learn the signs of the disease.

A local doctor said breast cancer awareness month is a reminder for folks to take care of themselves. She said one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Dr. Wajeeha Razaq said she's been helping breast cancer patients for over a decade.

“It gives me a lot of satisfaction. That I helped someone,” Dr. Razaq said.

She serves as an associate professor of medicine with the Stephenson Cancer Center.

“You need to have all of these doctors under the same roof and all of them should be talking to each other because anything can change during this journey,” Dr. Razaq said.

According to the Oklahoma State Health Department, the breast cancer Oklahoma mortality rate since 2010 has consistently been higher than the U.S. rate.

“Screening and early detection, that’s the key to go. If we do the screening with the mammograms, we can detect breast cancer early and the five-year survival with the early detection is more than 99 percent.”

She encourages all her patients to schedule a mammogram.

“It’s very important that above 40 years of age, everyone will have the mammograms yearly. They need to look at their family history, depending upon how many people have the breast cancer and what age they got the breast cancer. They need to talk to their primary care physicians,” Dr. Razaq said.

Another option is doing breast exams on yourself. Dr. Razaq said it's not perfect but, there are symptoms you can detect on your own.

“Any lump, any skin changes in the breast, if there is any rash, nipple inversion or any changes in the nipple like pulling, pulling of the skin any of these are worrisome,” Dr. Razaq said.

She said she hopes these are tips people should consider not just for breast cancer awareness, but a lifetime.