Acupuncture Eases Breast Cancer Treatment Side Effects
By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, September 22, 2008; 12:00 AM
MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Lifesaving treatments for breast cancer come at a cost -- many women experience hot flashes, fatigue, night sweats and more.
Now new research suggests that acupuncture may help ease some of these side effects, and it may be more effective than antidepressants for relieving hot flashes and more.
"This study compared the effectiveness of acupuncture to drug therapy, and we found acupuncture was just as effective and had no side effects," said study author Dr. Eleanor M. Walker, director of breast radiation oncology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
"We were also able to show that the effect of acupuncture was longer lasting. After about two weeks of stopping drug therapy, women started having symptoms. With acupuncture, it was 15 weeks," she said.
Walker was expected to present the findings Monday at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's annual meeting, in Boston.
Acupuncture is an ancient treatment that's a mainstay of Chinese medicine. It has been practiced for thousands of years, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Acupuncture involves the placement of very slender needles into the skin along certain points.
In Chinese medicine, it's believed that acupuncture works by unblocking the flow of energy along meridians. In Western medicine, the exact reason acupuncture might work isn't clear, but some theorize that the placement of needles may release endorphins, a chemical that make you feel good. Walker added that the meridian lines from Chinese medicine closely correspond to the body's network of nerves.
Treatments for breast cancer can induce early menopause, and many dampen the production of estrogen, leaving women with hot flashes, excessive sweating, fatigue and more.
Women with breast cancer can't be given hormone replacement therapy, so doctors often prescribe antidepressants, which can have their own side effects.
In the current study, Walker and her colleagues compared acupuncture with the use of the antidepressant Effexor in 47 women with breast cancer. Each woman was randomly assigned to receive a 12-week course of the antidepressant or acupuncture. Prior to the study, the women reported having at least 14 hot flashes per week.
After the study intervention, both groups reported similar improvements in hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. However, there were no side effects reported in the acupuncture group, whereas some women in the antidepressant group had nausea, dry mouth, headache, trouble sleeping, constipation and other side effects.
Walker also said that many of those receiving acupuncture reported having more energy, a greater sense of well-being, and an improved sex drive.
"There are alternatives to drugs. This is a viable treatment without side effects, but it's going to take patients pushing insurance companies to get them to pay," said Walker. Currently, most insurance companies won't pay for acupuncture.
Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La., said that this is "an interesting, but very small study. Right now, I wouldn't recommend acupuncture to patients outside of a clinical trial. We need a larger prospective trial. Because the symptoms you're measuring are so variable, it really requires a large number of people to answer."
More information
To learn more about acupuncture, visit the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
SOURCES: Eleanor Walker, M.D., director, breast radiation oncology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit; Jay Brooks, M.D., chairman, hematology/oncology, Ochsner Health System, Baton Rouge, La.; Sept. 22, 2008, presentation, American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's annual meeting, Boston
News Source
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Breast cancer testing mistakes 'wake-up call' to world, expert says
Breast cancer testing mistakes 'wake-up call' to world, expert says
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 5:48 AM ET CBC News
U.S. pathologist David Dabbs says the lessons learned at a St. John's lab can be applied globally. (CBC)A world-renowned author has told Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry that the mistakes at a St. John's lab will yield lessons for labs everywhere else.
David Dabbs, chief of pathology at Magee-Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh and author of a respected textbook on diagnostic immunohistochemistry, said Tuesday he has no doubt that human error led to hundreds of Newfoundland and Labrador patients receiving inaccurate results.
"I think it is a wake-up call in general, to the global community of everyone who does [hormone receptor] testing in their laboratory and other complex testing for breast cancer patients,"
Dabbs told reporters after testifying Tuesday at the Cameron inquiry.
Dabbs said the hormone receptor tests used to help determine treatment are complex, and involve dozens of intricate steps. Nonetheless, he said some basics must be followed from the start.
"Whenever tissues are collected from patients, the most important aspect of all is to make sure that those tissues are obtained as quickly as possible and processed in the appropriate fluids," Dabbs said.
Justice Margaret Cameron, who has been collecting evidence as the head of the inquiry since March, has already been told that was not consistent practice within Eastern Health.
Some operating rooms did not have refrigerators, and some tissue samples were left in the open over weekends before they were then processed.
Dabbs said labs elsewhere should learn from what happened with how estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor tests were handled in St. John's.
"It is a critically important test. Patients are going on therapies that are either very expensive and/or have potentially serious side effects," Dabbs told reporters.
"So these tests need to be done correctly."
Meanwhile, Dabbs said that Eastern Health made the right decision when it started retesting samples in 2005, soon after it learned that there were problems with the hormone receptor tests. The tests determine whether a patient can benefit or not from powerful antihormonal therapies, usually Tamoxifen.
News Article Source
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 5:48 AM ET CBC News
U.S. pathologist David Dabbs says the lessons learned at a St. John's lab can be applied globally. (CBC)A world-renowned author has told Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry that the mistakes at a St. John's lab will yield lessons for labs everywhere else.
David Dabbs, chief of pathology at Magee-Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh and author of a respected textbook on diagnostic immunohistochemistry, said Tuesday he has no doubt that human error led to hundreds of Newfoundland and Labrador patients receiving inaccurate results.
"I think it is a wake-up call in general, to the global community of everyone who does [hormone receptor] testing in their laboratory and other complex testing for breast cancer patients,"
Dabbs told reporters after testifying Tuesday at the Cameron inquiry.
Dabbs said the hormone receptor tests used to help determine treatment are complex, and involve dozens of intricate steps. Nonetheless, he said some basics must be followed from the start.
"Whenever tissues are collected from patients, the most important aspect of all is to make sure that those tissues are obtained as quickly as possible and processed in the appropriate fluids," Dabbs said.
Justice Margaret Cameron, who has been collecting evidence as the head of the inquiry since March, has already been told that was not consistent practice within Eastern Health.
Some operating rooms did not have refrigerators, and some tissue samples were left in the open over weekends before they were then processed.
Dabbs said labs elsewhere should learn from what happened with how estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor tests were handled in St. John's.
"It is a critically important test. Patients are going on therapies that are either very expensive and/or have potentially serious side effects," Dabbs told reporters.
"So these tests need to be done correctly."
Meanwhile, Dabbs said that Eastern Health made the right decision when it started retesting samples in 2005, soon after it learned that there were problems with the hormone receptor tests. The tests determine whether a patient can benefit or not from powerful antihormonal therapies, usually Tamoxifen.
News Article Source
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Can Breast MRI Help Evaluate Cancer?
Can Breast MRI Help Evaluate Cancer?
Study Weighs the Benefits, Risks of Routine Breast MRIs for Cancer Evaluation
By Kathleen Doheny WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Sept. 8, 2008 -- Routine use of breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans to help evaluate cancer after diagnosis is not as beneficial as some believed, according to a new study."The bottom line is it doesn't help us as much as we thought it did," says Richard J. Bleicher, MD, a surgical oncologist at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and lead author of the study, presented Saturday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Symposium in Washington, D.C.
But another expert who reviewed the study abstract for WebMD says the study was small and that the role of breast MRI to evaluate cancer is still evolving.On one point all sides seem to agree: More research is needed to determine if MRI can improve the outcomes of women with breast cancer.
Breast MRI
Bleicher and his colleagues reviewed the records of 577 breast cancer patients, including 130 who had MRIs before treatment and 447 who did not. The goal was to determine the effect, if any, of getting an MRI on the time to start treatment, the chances of removal of all the cancer, and other outcomes.
"We wanted to ascertain whether routine MRIs [for cancer, not for screenings] are helpful and do they, in fact, assist us in treatment planning," Bleicher tells WebMD.The role of breast MRI for screening, he says, is clearer. The American Cancer Society, for instance, advises that MRIs be used in combination with mammograms for preventive screenings of certain women at especially high risk of breast cancer.
But the role of the breast MRI to evaluate breast cancer is not as clear, he says.The thinking among experts, he says, is that MRIs, because they are so sensitive, may allow better visualization of the cancer, so using one when cancer is diagnosed or suspected should help guide treatment decisions.
Breast MRI Study Findings
Among the findings:
Breast MRI was associated with a 22-day delay in the start of treatment. "We don't know why," Bleicher says. It could be because of the scheduling of the MRI itself, or perhaps MRI prompts other biopsies." Three weeks should not change a patient's survival chances, he says, but waiting can clearly add to a patient's anxiety.
Those who got the breast MRI were nearly twice as likely to have a mastectomy as breast-conserving surgery, even after controlling for size and stage of the tumor. One reason, he says, may be that the MRI, being highly sensitive, picked up something that looked like cancer but turned out not to be -- a false positive.
Those who got the breast MRI were slightly more likely to have what surgeons call positive margins, although this finding could have been a chance finding. The goal is negative margins. "The goal is to excise out the tumor so there is a margin of normal tissue around it, reassuring us the cancer has been completely removed," he says.
Younger women were more likely than older women to have MRIs, but the use of the MRI did not correlate with other factors such as family history of breast or ovarian cancer.
Breast MRI Research Evolving
Another expert, Constance Lehman, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of radiology and head of breast imaging at the University of Washington Medical Center and director of imaging at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, reviewed the study for WebMD. She says the new study is "not the kind of study we need to make firm conclusions."
She points out that the study was small and that only 130 women had breast MRIs.
Research on the value of breast MRI when used in cancer treatment decision is evolving, she says, and not all the answers are in.
The Bleicher study has inherent limitations, she says, because it wasn't a study that randomized people to get one treatment or not. Rather, it was a study that took a look backward, and it lacked some information, such as why some women got MRIs and others didn't.
The findings from the current study, she says, don't hold up at her center.
"This study shouldn't rule out a preoperative MRI,'' she says. "This is one abstract from one center that did one study in a very select group of patients."
She points to another study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which reviewed the results of 19 studies and found the rate of mastectomy because of false positives on the MRI is 1%.
Breast MRI: Advice for WomenIf a woman has suspected or diagnosed breast cancer, Lehman says, she should ask about the potential benefits and risk of a breast MRI.
"Go to a center with a high level of experience," she advises.
Bleicher's advice: "Women who walk into their doctor's office with breast cancer should not be immediately thinking, 'I have to have an MRI.' There are false positives [to MRIs], unnecessary biopsies, a lot of anxiety ... and a three-week delay [to treatment]. All these disadvantages have not been offset by an improvement in our ability to choose the proper treatment."
More study is needed, he says, to decide the best role for breast MRI in cancer diagnosis.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Younger women detecting breast cancer in early stages
MANILA, Philippines—There are more reported cases of breast cancer among younger Filipino women these days, but the Philippine Cancer Society says this means more women are aware of the dreaded disease and have been able to detect it in its early stages.
"Breast-cancer victims used to be aged 40 and above. But now women are getting it in their early 30s and now even in their late 20s. This, however, means naagapan na (it is treated in its early stage)," said PCS executive director Kelly Salvador.
As part of an awareness campaign, around 30,000 people are expected to gather in 16 different locations in the country next month in a walk against breast cancer, the no. 1 killer disease among women.
The event to be held on October 5 will be sponsored by the "Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer" (KGBC) campaign of beauty company Avon, and several partners including the PCS and the Philippine General Hospital Breast Care Center, KGBC's beneficiary.
The PGH facility, which was launched in 2002, has funded the treatments of indigents, initiated support groups and conducted regular gatherings for sufferers and survivors.
As part of its fundraising efforts, P30 from each KGBC shirt (priced at P149) sold will go to the breast cancer fund while P5 will go to the same fund with each sale of the KGBC limited edition of the Skin So Soft Ultra Healing Hand and Body Lotion.
Since one out of nine Filipinas could develop cancer, PCS chair Roberto Paterno stressed that monthly self-examination would be crucial in nipping breast cancer in the bud.
Mammography, he added, should be done yearly starting age 40 by high-risk persons or those with family history of cancer, and starting age 50 for those without any history of cancer.
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
News Article Source
"Breast-cancer victims used to be aged 40 and above. But now women are getting it in their early 30s and now even in their late 20s. This, however, means naagapan na (it is treated in its early stage)," said PCS executive director Kelly Salvador.
As part of an awareness campaign, around 30,000 people are expected to gather in 16 different locations in the country next month in a walk against breast cancer, the no. 1 killer disease among women.
The event to be held on October 5 will be sponsored by the "Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer" (KGBC) campaign of beauty company Avon, and several partners including the PCS and the Philippine General Hospital Breast Care Center, KGBC's beneficiary.
The PGH facility, which was launched in 2002, has funded the treatments of indigents, initiated support groups and conducted regular gatherings for sufferers and survivors.
As part of its fundraising efforts, P30 from each KGBC shirt (priced at P149) sold will go to the breast cancer fund while P5 will go to the same fund with each sale of the KGBC limited edition of the Skin So Soft Ultra Healing Hand and Body Lotion.
Since one out of nine Filipinas could develop cancer, PCS chair Roberto Paterno stressed that monthly self-examination would be crucial in nipping breast cancer in the bud.
Mammography, he added, should be done yearly starting age 40 by high-risk persons or those with family history of cancer, and starting age 50 for those without any history of cancer.
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
News Article Source
New breast cancer screening tool shows promise
News Article Source
New breast cancer screening tool shows promise
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new screening tool works three times better than mammography at finding tumors in women who have dense breast tissue, which can confound mammograms, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
Mammography, an X-ray of the breasts, detected fewer than a third of the tumors found using a new technique called molecular breast imaging, or MBI, the researchers said ahead of a breast cancer meeting sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and other groups.
Mammography is used commonly to screen for breast cancer, but about a quarter of women have dense breast tissue -- and mammogram X-rays may not see through this to spot small tumors. Doctors are eager for other methods that perform better.
The study, involving 940 women, is the largest to date to compare MBI to mammography. MBI is still experimental and is not commonly available to women.
The women, considered at high risk for breast cancer due to a family history of the disease, genetic susceptibility or other factors, underwent both screening methods.
With MBI, patients are injected with a radioactive agent that gets absorbed by breast tissue. Cancer cells tend to absorb more of it than healthy cells, and specialized cameras that detect gamma rays from the agent then differentiate tumors from healthy tissue.
"We're certainly not advocating replacing mammography in any way. But we think it (MBI) would have a role as an additional test for those women that aren't served as well by mammography as we would like," Carrie Hruska of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who led the study, told reporters.
Using MBI, the ability to see a tumor is not affected by the density of the surrounding breast tissue, so it offers great promise for women whose mammograms may not provide an accurate assessment, Hruska said.
Among the 940 women, 13 tumors were found in 12 women. MBI found 10 and mammography found three, the researchers said.
Dr. Eric Winer of Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, commenting for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said between 10 percent and 15 percent of breast cancers cannot be detected using mammograms.
"More and more we may be getting away from one-size-fits-all in terms of screening approaches, and instead think about screening approaches that are directed more to an individual women based on her risk and on the characteristics of her breasts," Winer told reporters in a conference call.
There has been increasing use of costly MRI exams on some women with dense breasts or with high risk for breast cancer.
Hruska said MBI may be a lower-cost alternative. She estimated it would cost about $500 to perform, and expressed hope its availability would increase in the next year.
The technology used special cameras developed by GE Medical Systems and privately held Gamma Medica-Ideas, Hruska said. The study was funded in part by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which provided the radioactive agent, Hruska added.
The radioactive agent typically exits the body in a day.
Hruska said MBI as currently used presents a very low risk of radiation if a woman has it a few times in a lifetime, but the researchers must lower the radiation if the technology begins to be used as a screening test every year or two.
New breast cancer screening tool shows promise
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new screening tool works three times better than mammography at finding tumors in women who have dense breast tissue, which can confound mammograms, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
Mammography, an X-ray of the breasts, detected fewer than a third of the tumors found using a new technique called molecular breast imaging, or MBI, the researchers said ahead of a breast cancer meeting sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and other groups.
Mammography is used commonly to screen for breast cancer, but about a quarter of women have dense breast tissue -- and mammogram X-rays may not see through this to spot small tumors. Doctors are eager for other methods that perform better.
The study, involving 940 women, is the largest to date to compare MBI to mammography. MBI is still experimental and is not commonly available to women.
The women, considered at high risk for breast cancer due to a family history of the disease, genetic susceptibility or other factors, underwent both screening methods.
With MBI, patients are injected with a radioactive agent that gets absorbed by breast tissue. Cancer cells tend to absorb more of it than healthy cells, and specialized cameras that detect gamma rays from the agent then differentiate tumors from healthy tissue.
"We're certainly not advocating replacing mammography in any way. But we think it (MBI) would have a role as an additional test for those women that aren't served as well by mammography as we would like," Carrie Hruska of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who led the study, told reporters.
Using MBI, the ability to see a tumor is not affected by the density of the surrounding breast tissue, so it offers great promise for women whose mammograms may not provide an accurate assessment, Hruska said.
Among the 940 women, 13 tumors were found in 12 women. MBI found 10 and mammography found three, the researchers said.
Dr. Eric Winer of Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, commenting for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said between 10 percent and 15 percent of breast cancers cannot be detected using mammograms.
"More and more we may be getting away from one-size-fits-all in terms of screening approaches, and instead think about screening approaches that are directed more to an individual women based on her risk and on the characteristics of her breasts," Winer told reporters in a conference call.
There has been increasing use of costly MRI exams on some women with dense breasts or with high risk for breast cancer.
Hruska said MBI may be a lower-cost alternative. She estimated it would cost about $500 to perform, and expressed hope its availability would increase in the next year.
The technology used special cameras developed by GE Medical Systems and privately held Gamma Medica-Ideas, Hruska said. The study was funded in part by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which provided the radioactive agent, Hruska added.
The radioactive agent typically exits the body in a day.
Hruska said MBI as currently used presents a very low risk of radiation if a woman has it a few times in a lifetime, but the researchers must lower the radiation if the technology begins to be used as a screening test every year or two.
Understanding Breast Cancer
Source
Before you can launch an effective battle against breast cancer, it's important to understand some basics: What is breast cancer and how does it happen? What are some of the myths about your risk of breast cancer?
In this section, you'll find answers that help you move forward with a solid grounding in the facts, including information about:
How Breast Cancer Happens
Who Gets Breast Cancer
Myths About Breast Cancer
How Breast Cancer Happens
The breast is a gland designed to make milk. The lobules in the breast make the milk, which then drains through the ducts to the nipple. Like all parts of your body, the cells in your breasts usually grow and then rest in cycles. The periods of growth and rest in each cell are controlled by genes in the cell's nucleus. The nucleus is like the control room of each cell. When your genes are in good working order, they keep cell growth under control. But when your genes develop an abnormality, they sometimes lose their ability to control the cycle of cell growth and rest.
Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells.
Cancer has the potential to break through normal breast tissue barriers and spread to other parts of the body. While cancer is always caused by a genetic "abnormality" (a "mistake" in the genetic material), only 5–10% of cancers are inherited from your mother or father. Instead, 90% of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general.
While there are things every woman can do to help her body stay as healthy as possible (such as eating a balanced diet, not smoking, minimizing stress, and exercising regularly), breast cancer is never anyone's fault. Feeling guilty, or telling yourself that breast cancer happened because of something you or anyone else did, is counterproductive.
Who Gets Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer to affect women. In 2007, it is estimated that there will be about 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in the United States, along with 62,030 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.
Every woman is at SOME risk for breast cancer—this is merely the "risk" of living as a woman. But there are many risk factors that can make one woman's picture differ substantially from another's. When you understand your own particular risk profile, you are in a better position to manage it and don't have to fear the unknown.
Myths About Breast Cancer
What is your risk of breast cancer? Which breast cancer treatment is right for you? What about antiperspirants and breast cancer? What you don't know CAN hurt you. Misinformation can keep you from recognizing and minimizing your own risk of breast cancer or getting the very best possible care. Arm yourself with the facts.
Here are ten common myths about breast cancer, followed by myths about specific types of breast cancer treatment.
1. Breast cancer only affects older women.
No. While it's true that the risk of breast cancer increases as we grow older, breast cancer can occur at any age. From birth to age 39, one woman in 231 will get breast cancer (<0.5% risk); from age 40–59, the risk is one in 25 (4% risk); from age 60–79, the risk is one in 15 (nearly 7%). Assuming you live to age 90, the risk of getting breast cancer over the course of an entire lifetime is one in 7, with an overall lifetime risk of 14.3%.
2. If you have a risk factor for breast cancer, you're likely to get the disease. No. Getting breast cancer is not a certainty, even if you have one of the stronger risk factors, like a breast cancer gene abnormality. Of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 inherited genetic abnormality, 40–80% will develop breast cancer over their lifetime; 20–60% won't. All other risk factors are associated with a much lower probability of being diagnosed with breast cancer.
3. If breast cancer doesn't run in your family, you won't get it. No. Every woman has some risk of breast cancer. About 80% of women who get breast cancer have no known family history of the disease. Increasing age – just the wear and tear of living – is the biggest single risk factor for breast cancer. For those women who do have a family history of breast cancer, your risk may be elevated a little, a lot, or not at all. If you are concerned, discuss your family history with your physician or a genetic counselor. You may be worrying needlessly.
4. Only your mother's family history of breast cancer can affect your risk. No. A history of breast cancer in your mother's OR your father's family will influence your risk equally. That's because half of your genes come from your mother, half from your father. But a man with a breast cancer gene abnormality is less likely to develop breast cancer than a woman with a similar gene. So, if you want to learn more about your father's family history, you have to look mainly at the women on your father's side, not just the men.
5. Using antiperspirants causes breast cancer. No. There is no evidence that the active ingredient in antiperspirants, or reducing perspiration from the underarm area, influences breast cancer risk. The supposed link between breast cancer and antiperspirants is based on misinformation about anatomy and a misunderstanding of breast cancer.
6. Birth control pills cause breast cancer.
No. Modern day birth control pills contain a low dose of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Many research studies show no association between birth control pills and an increased risk of breast cancer. However, one study that combined the results of many different studies did show an association between birth control pills and a very small increase in risk. The study also showed that this slight increase in risk decreased over time. So after 10 years, birth control pills were not associated with an increase in risk. Birth control pills also have benefits:
- decreasing ovarian and endometrial cancer risk
- relieving menstrual disorders, pelvic inflammatory disease, and ovarian, and cysts
- improving bone mineral density
As with any medicine, you have to weigh the risks and benefits and decide what is best for YOU.
7. Eating high-fat foods causes breast cancer.
No. Several large studies have not been able to demonstrate a clear connection between eating high-fat foods and a higher risk of breast cancer. Ongoing studies are attempting to clarify this issue further. We can say that avoidance of high-fat foods is a healthy choice for other reasons: to lower the "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins), increase the "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins); to make more room your diet for healthier foods, and to help you control your weight. Excess body weight, IS a risk factor for breast cancer, because the extra fat increases the production of estrogen outside the ovaries and adds to the overall level of estrogen in the body. If you are already overweight, or have a tendency to gain weight easily, avoiding high-fat foods is a good idea.
8. A monthly breast self-exam is the best way to diagnose breast cancer.
No. Digital mammography or high quality film-screen mammography is the most reliable way to find breast cancer as early as possible, when it is most curable. By the time a breast cancer can be felt, it is usually bigger than the average size of a cancer first found on mammography. Breast examination by you or your healthcare provider is still very important. About 25% of breast cancers are found only on breast examination (not on the mammogram), about 35% are found on mammography alone, and 40% are found by both physical exam and mammography. Keep both bases covered.
9. I'm at high risk for breast cancer and there's nothing I can do about it.
No. There are several effective ways to reduce—but not eliminate—the risk of breast cancer in women at high risk. Options include lifestyle changes (minimize alcohol consumption, stop smoking, exercise regularly), medication (tamoxifen, also called Nolvadex); and in cases of very high risk, surgery may be offered (prophylactic mastectomies, and for some women, prophylactic ovary removal). Be sure that you have consulted with a physician or genetic counselor before you make assumptions about your level of risk.
10. A breast cancer diagnosis is an automatic death sentence.
No. Fully 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no signs of metastases (no cancer has spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes). Furthermore, 80% of these women live at least five years, most longer, and many live much longer. Even women with signs of cancer metastases can live a long time. Plus promising treatment breakthroughs are becoming available each day.
Before you can launch an effective battle against breast cancer, it's important to understand some basics: What is breast cancer and how does it happen? What are some of the myths about your risk of breast cancer?
In this section, you'll find answers that help you move forward with a solid grounding in the facts, including information about:
How Breast Cancer Happens
Who Gets Breast Cancer
Myths About Breast Cancer
How Breast Cancer Happens
The breast is a gland designed to make milk. The lobules in the breast make the milk, which then drains through the ducts to the nipple. Like all parts of your body, the cells in your breasts usually grow and then rest in cycles. The periods of growth and rest in each cell are controlled by genes in the cell's nucleus. The nucleus is like the control room of each cell. When your genes are in good working order, they keep cell growth under control. But when your genes develop an abnormality, they sometimes lose their ability to control the cycle of cell growth and rest.
Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells.
Cancer has the potential to break through normal breast tissue barriers and spread to other parts of the body. While cancer is always caused by a genetic "abnormality" (a "mistake" in the genetic material), only 5–10% of cancers are inherited from your mother or father. Instead, 90% of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general.
While there are things every woman can do to help her body stay as healthy as possible (such as eating a balanced diet, not smoking, minimizing stress, and exercising regularly), breast cancer is never anyone's fault. Feeling guilty, or telling yourself that breast cancer happened because of something you or anyone else did, is counterproductive.
Who Gets Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer to affect women. In 2007, it is estimated that there will be about 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in the United States, along with 62,030 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.
Every woman is at SOME risk for breast cancer—this is merely the "risk" of living as a woman. But there are many risk factors that can make one woman's picture differ substantially from another's. When you understand your own particular risk profile, you are in a better position to manage it and don't have to fear the unknown.
Myths About Breast Cancer
What is your risk of breast cancer? Which breast cancer treatment is right for you? What about antiperspirants and breast cancer? What you don't know CAN hurt you. Misinformation can keep you from recognizing and minimizing your own risk of breast cancer or getting the very best possible care. Arm yourself with the facts.
Here are ten common myths about breast cancer, followed by myths about specific types of breast cancer treatment.
1. Breast cancer only affects older women.
No. While it's true that the risk of breast cancer increases as we grow older, breast cancer can occur at any age. From birth to age 39, one woman in 231 will get breast cancer (<0.5% risk); from age 40–59, the risk is one in 25 (4% risk); from age 60–79, the risk is one in 15 (nearly 7%). Assuming you live to age 90, the risk of getting breast cancer over the course of an entire lifetime is one in 7, with an overall lifetime risk of 14.3%.
2. If you have a risk factor for breast cancer, you're likely to get the disease. No. Getting breast cancer is not a certainty, even if you have one of the stronger risk factors, like a breast cancer gene abnormality. Of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 inherited genetic abnormality, 40–80% will develop breast cancer over their lifetime; 20–60% won't. All other risk factors are associated with a much lower probability of being diagnosed with breast cancer.
3. If breast cancer doesn't run in your family, you won't get it. No. Every woman has some risk of breast cancer. About 80% of women who get breast cancer have no known family history of the disease. Increasing age – just the wear and tear of living – is the biggest single risk factor for breast cancer. For those women who do have a family history of breast cancer, your risk may be elevated a little, a lot, or not at all. If you are concerned, discuss your family history with your physician or a genetic counselor. You may be worrying needlessly.
4. Only your mother's family history of breast cancer can affect your risk. No. A history of breast cancer in your mother's OR your father's family will influence your risk equally. That's because half of your genes come from your mother, half from your father. But a man with a breast cancer gene abnormality is less likely to develop breast cancer than a woman with a similar gene. So, if you want to learn more about your father's family history, you have to look mainly at the women on your father's side, not just the men.
5. Using antiperspirants causes breast cancer. No. There is no evidence that the active ingredient in antiperspirants, or reducing perspiration from the underarm area, influences breast cancer risk. The supposed link between breast cancer and antiperspirants is based on misinformation about anatomy and a misunderstanding of breast cancer.
6. Birth control pills cause breast cancer.
No. Modern day birth control pills contain a low dose of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Many research studies show no association between birth control pills and an increased risk of breast cancer. However, one study that combined the results of many different studies did show an association between birth control pills and a very small increase in risk. The study also showed that this slight increase in risk decreased over time. So after 10 years, birth control pills were not associated with an increase in risk. Birth control pills also have benefits:
- decreasing ovarian and endometrial cancer risk
- relieving menstrual disorders, pelvic inflammatory disease, and ovarian, and cysts
- improving bone mineral density
As with any medicine, you have to weigh the risks and benefits and decide what is best for YOU.
7. Eating high-fat foods causes breast cancer.
No. Several large studies have not been able to demonstrate a clear connection between eating high-fat foods and a higher risk of breast cancer. Ongoing studies are attempting to clarify this issue further. We can say that avoidance of high-fat foods is a healthy choice for other reasons: to lower the "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins), increase the "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins); to make more room your diet for healthier foods, and to help you control your weight. Excess body weight, IS a risk factor for breast cancer, because the extra fat increases the production of estrogen outside the ovaries and adds to the overall level of estrogen in the body. If you are already overweight, or have a tendency to gain weight easily, avoiding high-fat foods is a good idea.
8. A monthly breast self-exam is the best way to diagnose breast cancer.
No. Digital mammography or high quality film-screen mammography is the most reliable way to find breast cancer as early as possible, when it is most curable. By the time a breast cancer can be felt, it is usually bigger than the average size of a cancer first found on mammography. Breast examination by you or your healthcare provider is still very important. About 25% of breast cancers are found only on breast examination (not on the mammogram), about 35% are found on mammography alone, and 40% are found by both physical exam and mammography. Keep both bases covered.
9. I'm at high risk for breast cancer and there's nothing I can do about it.
No. There are several effective ways to reduce—but not eliminate—the risk of breast cancer in women at high risk. Options include lifestyle changes (minimize alcohol consumption, stop smoking, exercise regularly), medication (tamoxifen, also called Nolvadex); and in cases of very high risk, surgery may be offered (prophylactic mastectomies, and for some women, prophylactic ovary removal). Be sure that you have consulted with a physician or genetic counselor before you make assumptions about your level of risk.
10. A breast cancer diagnosis is an automatic death sentence.
No. Fully 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no signs of metastases (no cancer has spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes). Furthermore, 80% of these women live at least five years, most longer, and many live much longer. Even women with signs of cancer metastases can live a long time. Plus promising treatment breakthroughs are becoming available each day.
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