Breast cancer.

It can be a terrifying diagnosis, not only because breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women, except for skin cancers.

An estimated 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women across the United States during 2016, according to the American Cancer Society. Another 61,000 cases of non-invasive carcinoma in situ will be diagnosed in women; 2,600 cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in men.

Breast cancer will kill about 40,450 women in the United States in 2016.

These are cold, hard, sobering facts. Depressing facts that loom large, impossible to ignore and negating any need to call attention to this deadly killer — except for one thing: there is hope.

And because there is hope, we mark October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The outlook for patients diagnosed with breast cancer has been changing for the better over time. More effective therapies, with fewer side effects, and a greater understanding of risk and accessible preventive measures have given women practical tools to protect themselves against the disease.

Significant advances over the past decade have included a refinement of hormonal therapy, giving many patients an option to the standard chemotherapy. Researcher say about 20 percent of patients are respond to drugs that target HER2 — human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 — a protein that promotes the growth of cancer cells.

Still more breast cancer patients are receiving treatments that are custom-matched to the genes being formed within their specific cancers.

While the chemistry and biology of cancer treatment continues to undergo refinement, so do the surgical procedures used to remove tumors that must be removed surgically. With a growing understanding about the spread of breast cancer to the lymph nodes, more surgeons routinely remove “sentinel” nodes for biopsy. For many patients, this leads to less invasive surgery.

Finally — and perhaps most importantly — there is a growing body of knowledge about the prevention and early detection of breast cancer. An accumulation of evidence points to exercise, proper diet and weight management as factors in the prevention of breast cancer.

Taken altogether, the news about breast cancer is more about hope than it is about cold, hard facts.

The eventual breakthrough will come. We inch ever-closer to the understanding of cancer’s cause and, ultimately, its cure.

Until then, we are making steady progress against this dreaded disease. And it’s progress worth celebrating.