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Over 2,000 women in Arkansas will be newly diagnosed from breast cancer this year, CDC says

Experts say the difference between life and death for breast cancer patients is getting a mammogram, and the CDC says over 280,000 women in Arkansas over 40 aren't.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The tragic death of Wendy Anderson has brought up conversation about the importance of breast cancer awareness.

Amy Treadway with Susan G. Komen Arkansas said the death of Wendy Anderson is a difficult one. 

"She had triple-negative breast cancer that metastasized that ultimately caused her death and it just reminds us of how fragile life is. How important it is for Susan G. Komen to continue doing our work," Treadway said.

Treadway said although technology has come far, treating breast cancer is still difficult when caught too late.

"The mortality rate is just not moving like we'd like to. The key is getting women in for early detection," she said.

According to the CDC, over two-thousand women in Arkansas will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone. Even more staggering, over 280-thousand women in the state that are 40 and up are not getting their annual mammogram. The CDC also said 410 women in Arkansas will die from breast cancer in 2019.

"We would think that perhaps it's women who are under-served, under-insured, or don't have insurance— but that's not the case," she said. "It's all of us. In Little Rock, or the most rural part of the state."

Treadway said that mammogram could be the difference between life or death.

"There are four stages of breast cancer, 1-4, and if breast cancer is caught in stage one which would be caught in a mammogram, the patient has a 95 percent chance of survival rate after five years," Treadway said.

Treadway said Susan G. Komen proposed a bold goal to reduce breast cancer deaths by fifty percent by 2026. She said early detection is the key to achieving this goal.

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