BREAST cancer is the most common malignancy among women in the United States. While White women are diagnosed with the disease more often, more Black women die from it and more Black women are diagnosed at younger ages and at more advanced stages, according to a study reported by the American Cancer Society.

In 2003, Black women are expected to account for 20,000 new cases of breast cancer and 5,700 deaths from the disease. Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death among Black women, second only to lung cancer.

The five-year survival rate for Black women with breast cancer is 70.6 percent compared to 86.7 percent among Whites. Approximately 212,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

Some of the risk factors for contracting breast cancer are increasing age, obesity, regular consumption of alcohol, having had breast cancer, family history of breast cancer, beginning menstruation before age 12, having a later first pregnancy and starting menopause later.

The first symptom of breast cancer is usually a lump. But even with mammograms, ultrasounds and biopsies, breast cancer can be difficult to detect. Treatment usually involves a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or hormone-blocking drugs.

A new type of treatment uses radio waves to destroy a tumor, basically cooking the cancerous cells. A probe is inserted into the breast to reach the tumor without cutting the patient or causing bleeding. The physician sees where the probe is going by watching an ultrasound screen. Electrons are emitted for several minutes, dissolving the tumor until it cannot be seen on the screen.

New drugs are being used to fight breast cancer by starving the tumor of estrogen. These drugs inhibit the conversion of testosterone and other hormones into estrogen, which increases the risk of developing breast cancer. Oral chemotherapy is another new treatment, that is less toxic, creates fewer side effects and is less expensive than intravenous chemotherapy