As we do every October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, today we are publishing our pink edition in support of Butler County women who are fighting breast cancer.

Take time to look through today’s newspaper as we introduce you to, among others, Corrie Nye, of Franklin Township, a 42-year-old mother of three whose positive approach to her treatment is mirrored in her determination to lead her life as normally as possible.

Then there is Stacy Meyer, who works from her offices in the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Medical Oncology and can be whatever her cancer patients need her to be.

And Tina Ruffner, of Sarver, who had a support system that helped her through her biopsies, radiation and chemo treatments and recovery. She urges other women to get checked. “If I had waited a year, I might not be here,” she told us.

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, an estimated 42,170 women will die from breast cancer in the United States this year, an estimated 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed and 48,530 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer will be detected.

One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. It is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers.

The pink ribbon represents hope for the future and the charitable goodness of people and businesses who publicly support the breast cancer movement. It is intended to evoke solidarity with women who have breast cancer.

There are over 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

People can perform the most basic breast cancer screening on their own: a breast self-exam. Done monthly, breast self-exam can reveal small lumps.

A yearly clinical breast exam and regularly scheduled mammograms in middle age often can detect breast cancer in its earliest stages.

Doctors often can detect breast cancer before the disease has spread. Even if it has spread, quick detection increases the chance of long-term survival.

Locally, Butler Health System, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and Magee-Womens Hospital, and Allegheny Health Network offer an array of breast cancer screening and diagnostic services.

As with every type of cancer, early detection provides the best chance for a cure.

Early detection is key. Don’t put it off.

— JGG