What Every Woman Needs To Know To Protect Her Health
Early detection is the best protection. Breast cancer found early can usually be treated successfully.
Myth 1: Young women don't get breast cancer
- Breast cancer can occur at any age
- Risk increases with age
- 1 out of 2,212 breast cancer diagnoses will be a 30-year-old woman
A woman's chance of breast cancer Increases with age:
- By age 30 - 1 out of 2,212
- By age 40 - 1 out of 235
- By age 50 - 1 out of 54
- By age 60 - 1 out of 23
- By age 70 - 1 out of 14
- By age 80 - 1 out of 10
- Ever -1 out of 8
Myth 2: A negative mammogram means you don't have breast cancer
- 10 - 15% of breast cancers are missed on mammography
- Some lumps can only be felt and not seen on mammography because of the density of the lump
- 26% of cancers detected last year were found on mammography as calcifications
Microcalfications
- A mammogram needs to be coupled with a yearly clinical breast exam and a monthly breast self-exam
- A clinical exam may find changes in the breast that would require additional evaluation with other screening tests such as ultrasound or dedicated breast MRI
Myth 3: Finding a lump is the only way a woman can detect breast cancer
- Some cancers don’t form a lump
- A visual exam of the breasts can often show symptoms that need to be reported to a healthcare provider
Other symptoms include:
- Discharge from one breast
- Inversion of a normally everted nipple
- Dimpling-a pulling in of the breast skin
- Bulge-area of raised tissues on one breast
- Itching, irritated or scaly nipple with/without discharge
- Rapidly increasing pain with redness or rash
- Rapid increase in size of one breast
- Changes in the shape of a breast
- Change in vein patterns on one breast
Myth 4: No history of breast cancer in your family means you never have to worry about having it
- All women are at risk
- Last year, 76% of women diagnosed with breast cancer had no family history of breast cancer
- The greatest risk is being female
Myth 5: A mother's family history of breast cancer is the only important history
- A father’s history is equally important
- Hereditary breast cancer is caused by inheriting a mutated gene from either your father or mother
- History needs to include the previous two generations because hereditary breast cancer can skip a generation
Myth 6: The most important risk factor is the number of relatives who have had breast cancer
- Age of occurrence is more important than the number of relatives diagnosed
- Early age of diagnosis is a red flag for hereditary breast cancer
- Equally important is a family history of ovarian cancer or having bilateral cancer (both breasts)
- A relative having both breast and ovarian cancer is highly suspicious for hereditary breast cancer
Myth 7: Breast cancer should be removed immediately before it spreads
- Most cancers 1 cm in size have been in the breast for 8 - 10 years when detected
- Breast cancer starts when one cell becomes malignant and begins a doubling process that continues until it reaches a size that can be detected by breast exam or on a mammogram
- Doubling process ranges from 29 to 220 days
- Breast cancer is not usually a medical emergency, with the exception of inflammatory breast cancer
Myth 8: All breast cancer patients receive the same treatment
- There are 15 different types of breast cancer
- Each type can vary greatly in aggressiveness of growth
- There is no longer a cookie-cutter approach to treatment as there was years ago
- Every woman’s cancer is uniquely unique
- Treatments are designed from careful study of:
- Tumor type
- Size
- Spread of cancer to other sites
- Individual characteristics of cancer
- Age and general health
Treatments
- Surgery
- Radiation Therapy
- Chemotherapy
Surgery
- Lumpectomy
- Mastectomy - With or without reconstruction
Radiation Therapy
Adjuvant Therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Neoadjuvant
- Post-surgical
- Hormonal therapy
Myth 9: Breast cancer is the number one enemy of women
- The number one enemy is NOT breast cancer but the late detection of breast cancer
- Breast cancer detected early can usually be treated successfully
Myth 10: High risk women can't do anything about their risks
- High risk women because of family history or an identified carrier of the breast cancer gene can do something about their risks
- Stop smoking
- Limit alcohol intake
- Exercise
- Eat a well-balanced, nutritious diet
- Get a mammogram on a recommended schedule
- Have clinical exams regularly
- Ask your physician about talking with a genetic counselor
Genetic Testing: Who Should Be Tested?
- Individuals with a personal or family history of breast cancer before age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age
- Individuals with two or more primary diagnoses of breast and/or ovarian cancer
- Individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent with a personal or family history of breast cancer before age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age
- Male breast cancer patients
BRCA1 or BRCA2 Testing
- For genetic testing, a blood sample is drawn and sent to a lab to see if an inherited, mutated gene (BRCA1 or BRCA2) is present DNA is present in all body cells
- Test person with cancer first if possible
- The mutated gene can come from the mother or father
How are people tested?
- Blood test - DNA in every cell in body
- Test person with cancer first if possible - Testing of relatives to determine if they carry gene if person with cancer test positive
Women who test positive for hereditary breast cancer are offered:
- High risk surveillance
- Chemoprevention
- Prophylactic surgery
High Risk Surveillance
- Monthly breast self-exams starting at age 18 to 21 and annual or semiannual clinical breast exams, beginning between ages 25 to 35
- Yearly mammography or dedicated breast MRI beginning between ages 25 to 35
- Annual or semiannual transvaginal ultrasound and testing for CA-125 to detect ovarian cancer beginning between the ages of 25 to 35
Chemoprevention
- Drugs such as Tamoxifen may significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer in women with BRCA mutations
- Oral contraceptives have been associated with up to a 60% reduction in the risk of ovarian cancer in women with BRCA mutations when taken for six or more years
Prophylactic Surgery
- Prophylactic mastectomy reduces the risk of breast cancer by at least 90% in women with BRCA mutations
- Prophylactic oophorectomy reduces the risk of ovarian cancer by up to 96% and simultaneously reduces the risk of breast cancer by approximately 50 percent in women with BRCA mutations
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