Doctors advise: check for signs of breast cancer
It begins in the tissue – a lump or a tumor, cancerous or not. Be aware and catch it early.
“Excluding cancers of the skin, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, accounting for nearly one out of three cancers diagnosed in American women,” according to Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2001-2002.
Currently, women in the United States have a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer.
Cancer is a group of diseases that cause cells to change the body and grow out of control. Most of these cells clump together into a tumor, and each cancer is named after the part of the body the tumor starts in.
Most tumors that form in the breast are benign, meaning non-cancerous abnormal growths. These tumors are not life-threatening. However, like most other cancers, if cancerous tumors are not found early, they can spread and start to dominate the body.
Two types of cancerous tumors are in situ, which does not spread beyond the first area, and invasive, which breaks through the duct and starts to spread to surrounding areas.
In 2001, approximately 40,200 women were expected to die from breast cancer, according to www.cancer.org.
There are a number of factors consistently associated with the risk of developing breast cancer: age, family history, birth, menopause, alcohol, hormones and obesity, said Linda Roberts, a family nurse practitioner of the Student Health and Wellness Center. Women with a history, especially first degree, meaning mother, sister, or daughter, have a higher risk.
“If you want to lower your risk, be born a boy,” Roberts said.
Although breast cancer is commonly found in females, there is a 1 percent risk for males.
According to Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2001-2002, besides being female, age is a women’s most important
factor.
“[Breast cancer usually begins] at about age 28,” Roberts said. “[Breast Cancer] is graded depending on the size of the tumor and if there is lymph node involvement.”
There are a variety of treatments for breast cancer. During a lumpectomy doctors remove the lump. During a mastectomy doctors remove the entire breast. Other treatments include radiation and chemotherapy. The most common and best method available for diagnosing breast cancer is mammography.
“The treatment is determined by the stage and spread of the cancer,” Roberts said.
There have been a couple rumors circulating about the cancer. The first is that it has been said that self-exams have proven to be ineffective.
Roberts said self-exams do not affect mortality rates. Once someone actually recognizes a lump from a self-exam, chances are the lump has been there from three to five years already. However, by catching it sooner, treatment can start sooner.
“It is all based on how early you catch it and what stage the cancer is in,” she said. “The rate of cancer has gone up, meaning we’ve been finding it more. The mortality rate has gone down, which means we are treating it more effectively.”
The second rumor is that birth control bills increase the risk of developing breast
cancer.
Roberts said older women, who have been taking hormone replacement, have a higher risk. Birth control does not increase the risk, but a high dose of hormone replacements does. Birth control pills tend to have a lower dose of hormones.
There is no known strategy to eliminate all risks. It is recommended that people who wish to reduce the rate should have a high rate of physical activity, a minimum alcohol intake, a low-fat and healthy diet and avoid obesity.
“Until we know more, women should do monthly self-exams, annual clinical exams and begin mammograms at ages 40 to 45,” Roberts said.
The key to this cancer is to be aware, she said.
-klm@cc.usu.edu