I get emails fairly often asking me if it's true that most women with stage 1 breast cancer will progress to stage 4. The answer is a big, loud "NO!" But after perusing some of the Internet conversations on bulletin boards and posting areas of breast cancer Web sites, I can see why other Web-surfers would mistakenly assume the answer is "yes."

What I think we may be seeing on the Web are postings by women who, precisely because they did not find themselves in an "average situation," are seeking help and answers for their unusual circumstances.

The same applies to women who've recently given birth. Most pregnancies are uneventful and most deliveries by the textbook, but if you were the woman who was in labor for 82 hours before a complicated emergency C-section, then you may be looking for others like yourself.

When you're online seeking information or trying to validate statistics or news related to breast cancer, don't make the mistake of counting the number of postings you see on a specific issue for an "average" or typical picture of that issue.  To get an overview of statistical information on matters of concern to you, visit institutional cancer Web sites like those of the American Cancer Society at http://www.cancer.org/ or the National Cancer Institute at http://www.cancer.gov/.

Did you know . . . in the U.S. the average age at diagnosis of breast cancer is 54.