one in two women say they do not know much about breast cancer, according to a study by the League Against Cancer

One in two women say they do not know much about breast cancer, according to a study by the League Against Cancer revealed on Friday September 26 by France Inter. An observation which worries the association, before the launch on Tuesday October 1 of the Pink October operation for the prevention of breast cancer.

According to the study, conducted online among 1,000 women representative of the French population, 51% of French women say they are not well aware of breast cancer, i.e. 14.8 million women aged over 18.

Worse, 1.7 million of them are not aware of the disease at all, an observation that slows down “most likely the attention paid to risk factors and screening actions”regrets the League against cancer. Thus, two in three women (63%) are unaware that alcohol is a major risk factor for breast cancer. One in two women (49%) do not identify tobacco as an aggravating factor in the disease. Among smokers, 52% are unaware that smoking considerably increases the risk of developing breast cancer.

The League Against Cancer is concerned about these very poor figures, while for ten years, participation in breast cancer screening campaigns has been in constant decline. In 2022, only 44.9% of women aged 50 to 74 had their check-up mammogram every two years. However, recalls the association, “90% of breast cancers can be cured if detected at an early stage”. A new prevention campaign will be launched next week, entitled “Stronger Together” because for “to prevent cancer, we need to talk about it to know and understand the associated risk factors”estimates the association.