"Compared to a lot of other cancers it is very treatable," he said.

"It's a great example of if it is detected at an early phase it has a much higher chance of cure and of long-term good outcomes."

Dr French said for the average cancer to get to a centimetre in size it would have started to grow two or three years earlier.

"The premise of breast screening is that you can detect early, small volume disease, treat it at that point and potentially cure someone," he said.

"Those small cancers, a lot of women are stunned. They think 'How can this be me? I've got no family history and I don't feel sick'.

"Most women who present with cancer are essentially healthy women doing their day-to-day things. Their whole life changes when you tell them they've got cancer . . . but the only difference between yesterday and today is the word. It has probably been growing there for some time."

Though lifestyle can be a contributing risk factor to breast cancer the biggest risk factors are inherent.

"The biggest risk factors for getting breast cancer are being female and getting older which we can't do much about," Dr French said.

"There are other things like family histories and lifestyle factors.

"People can eat a better diet, smoke less, drink less and exercise more. They're not absolute protectors but alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, when for a long time it wasn't thought to be the case."

Dr French said there had been a change in the techniques used during surgery to achieve better outcomes for patients in the 10 years he has treated the disease.

"I think these days we are seeing a greater emphasis on the aesthetic outcomes of breast cancer surgery. We increasingly borrow techniques which would have been called plastic surgery five or 10 years ago and we are adapting those to apply to the cancer setting. Not ever do we compromise the cancer treatments — we're always trying to cut the cancer out with what we call a clear margin and we still rely on radiation therapy to treat the remainder of the breast, but we then use those other techniques to reshape the breast so you don't get deformity."

¦ Norwest Private Hospital will support Pink Ribbon Day — which aims to help raise awareness of breast cancer and funds for research, early prevention and patient support programs — with a week of activities and a morning tea and raffle to be drawn on October 28.