It used to be that one in eight women would develop breast cancer by the time she reached her 80''s.

That number''s now been revised because of longer life expectancy rates. Now, one in seven women who reach the age of 100 will be diagnosed with the disease.

But while the number of cases diagnosed continues to rise, death rates from breast cancer are dropping, thanks to increased awareness and better detection.

"He told me my biopsy was positive and I was so devastated that I was actually speechless," remembers Eileen McCarthy, a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed almost four years ago. This nurse coordinator and mother of three who counsels cancer patients says she''s rarely at a loss for words.  But news of her breast cancer left her crying for weeks.

"I thought of all the negative things like who would teach Erin how to bake cookies who would teach her how to do all the things little girls do."

But Eileen''s cancer was found in an early, more treatable stage. Almost four years later, she''s cancer free and healthy.

"Films and imaging today is so much better than it was even a decade ago and that is part of our ability to detect cancers earlier. And another part is just awareness to get people in to get their mammograms, so both of those things are helping us detect cancers earlier," says Dr. Jill Dietz, a breast surgeon at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Figures from a study released in April show that since 1980, cases of a very early stage of breast cancer found in the milk ducts, called ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS, have increased more than seven-fold. During the same time, the number of cases of invasive breast cancer remained relatively stable.

"The death rate is down," says Dr. Dietz. But she says more women need mammograms. In all women over 40, only about 65 per cent get screened when they should.

"Screening mammography has shown to identify cancers earlier and that is the best way we have of fighting cancer and increasing our chances of doing well."

Eileen still counsels cancer patients, but now she has a message for healthy women too. "Don''t miss any mammograms, keep your pap smears, those appointments for your pap smear. If you''re 50 years of age or older get a colonoscopy. I mean just become very vigilant in your health care because early detection can save you."