Early breast cancer screening makes a difference.
About 38.4% of Americans will be diagnosed with some cancer in their lifetime, per the National Cancer Institute. With over 300,000 people in the United States projected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone, breast cancer awareness is especially important. Breast cancer is one type of cancer that, if caught early, is more treatable. Because of early detection, we have decreased the mortality rate of breast cancer to about 13%.
Prevention is Key in Fighting Cancer
Make an appointment with your doctor to discuss your risk and get scheduled for your mammogram and breast cancer screening. Talk to your doctor about risk factors and screening options. Low-risk women can often wait until they are 50 to start screening, but women with higher risk should start at 40. Someone with no family history should still get screened, as 85% of women diagnosed with breast cancer do NOT have a family member who had breast cancer. Men are also at risk for breast cancer, although it is not as prevalent as it is in women.
What are Your Risk Factors for Breast Cancer?
Risk factors you cannot change, include:
- Getting older. The risk for breast cancer increases with age; most breast cancers are diagnosed after age 50.
- Genetic mutations. Inherited changes (mutations) to certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Women who have inherited these genetic changes are at higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
- Reproductive history. Early menstrual periods before age 12 and starting menopause after age 55 expose women to hormones longer, raising their risk of getting breast cancer.
- Having dense breasts. Dense breasts have more connective tissue than fatty tissue, which can sometimes make it hard to see tumors on a mammogram. Women with dense breasts are more likely to get breast cancer.
- Personal history of breast cancer or certain non-cancerous breast diseases. Women who have had breast cancer are more likely to get breast cancer a second time. Some non-cancerous breast diseases such as atypical hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ are associated with a higher risk of getting breast cancer.
- Family history of breast cancer. A woman’s risk for breast cancer is higher if she has a mother, sister, or daughter (first-degree relative) or multiple family members on either her mother’s or father’s side of the family who have had breast cancer. Having a first-degree male relative with breast cancer also raises a woman’s risk. This is another reason why it’s important to have early breast cancer screening.
- Previous treatment using radiation therapy. Women who had radiation therapy to the chest or breasts (like for treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma) before age 30 have a higher risk of getting breast cancer later in life.
- Women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), which was given to some pregnant women in the United States between 1940 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage, have a higher risk. Women whose mothers took DES while pregnant with them are also at risk.
Things Not to Do to Fight Cancer
- Not being physically active. Women who are not physically active have a higher risk of getting breast cancer.
- Being overweight or obese after menopause. Older women who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of getting breast cancer than those at a normal weight.
- Taking hormones. Some forms of hormone replacement therapy (those that include both estrogen and progesterone) taken during menopause can raise the risk for breast cancer when taken for more than five years. Certain oral contraceptives (birth control pills) also have been found to raise breast cancer risk.
- Reproductive history. Having the first pregnancy after age 30, not breastfeeding, and never having a full-term pregnancy can raise breast cancer risk.
- Drinking alcohol. Studies show that a woman’s risk for breast cancer increases with the more alcohol she drinks.
Research suggests that other factors such as smoking, being exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer, and changes in other hormones due to night shift working also may increase breast cancer risk. We can all commit to making better decisions to lower our risk.
Valor Health works in partnership with St Luke’s and St. Alphonsus to bring Mammography Mobile Units to the Gem Community for early breast cancer screening.