Every person diagnosed with breast cancer is someone's child, parent or friend. Not everyone can understand what it is like to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but everyone can help raise awareness about the disease.

According to American Cancer Society's 2011 statistics, about 39,520 women will die from breast cancer this year, and, while breast cancer in men is rare, about 2,140 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men in 2011.

"It is very important to be aware of breast cancer because we want the people who are diagnosed to catch it early by having mammograms and tests done before they can feel it," Sandy Chanelear, a mammogram technologist at SoutheastHEALTH Cancer Center, said.

While many women are aware that they can get breast cancer, there are not many who realize how young they can get it.

According to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website, 5 percent of breast cancer patients are under the age of 40.

"Women as early as 20 can get breast cancer, and we recommend that women get regular screenings after the age of 40," Terri Stuckey, nurse manager at SoutheastHEALTH Cancer Center, said. "It is more common in women's younger years now, more specifically the college-aged women. If a woman has a family history of breast cancer, she can get it at an earlier age."

Breast cancer is something that anyone can get, but there are ways to lower the risk.

"While there is no way of actually preventing breast cancer, some ways of catching the diagnoses early on are getting breast self exams regularly, mammogram screenings and observing a low fat diet," Stuckey said.

Some people who have an increased risk for breast cancer are people of certain races. For example, Caucasians have the highest chance of getting breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer goes up about 7 percent for people who heavily consume alcohol on a daily basis.

"Women should have one mammogram screening a year to make sure everything is OK," Chanelear said.

Treatment of breast cancer includes radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. Surgery is most often used first before any of the other treatments in order to remove a tumor.

"Being aware of breast cancer can help catch the disease early enough to where it is able to be treated," Stuckey said. "Waiting for so long can cause it to spread."

The new SoutheastHEALTH Cancer Center is a two level building on the hospital's West Campus at 789 South Mount Auburn Road. Renovated in February of 2011, the cancer center is 49,200 square feet and one of the largest projects in the history of SoutheastHEALTH.