The American Cancer Society recommends that most women get their first mammogram at the age of 40 . A mother in Worcester, Massachusetts said that advice saved her life.

Alexis Matera turned 40 in January, had her first mammogram in February, and after an irregularity was biopsied, she got the news in mid-March.

"It came back as technically stage zero, but ductile carcinoma in situ or DCIS for short," she said. DCIS is an early form of breast cancer that resides in the milk duct and hasn't spread into the breast tissue, according to the Mayo Clinic .

In an instant, everything came to a halt for Alexis, her husband Tom, and their four-year-old son.

"When you see or hear cancer, you think the worst," she said. "I had a really hard time rolling that word cancer out of my mouth. Say

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