1. Is it true that one in eight women will get breast cancer?
The one-in-eight statistic doesn’t accurately reflect the average woman’s breast cancer risk. Age is the most important risk factor for breast cancer. That means the older a woman is, the greater her risk of developing the disease. Statistics from the US National Cancer Institute show that a woman’s chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer by age is:
From age 20 to age 30 . . . 1 in 2,000
From age 30 to age 39 . . . 1 in 229
From age 40 to age 49 . . . 1 in 68
From age 50 to age 59 . . . 1 in 37
From age 60 to age 69 . . . 1 in 26
Ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 in 8
“Ever” is lifetime risk. This means a woman has a one-in-eight chance of getting breast cancer after the age of 70.
2. Is it necessary to do monthly breast self-exam?
Breast self-exam (BSE) has been widely hailed as a technique that can help women find breast cancer early—with the implication that finding it early will save lives. There’s just one problem: No study ever has found that BSE reduces breast cancer deaths. That’s why after many years of supporting BSE, the American Cancer Society, in May 2003, revised its breast cancer screening guidelines and now calls BSE optional.
Many women do find their cancers themselves. But very few find them while doing BSE. More typically, the woman just rolled over in bed, or felt a lump while soaping up in the shower, or had it pointed out by a lover.
This is why it is important for women to become acquainted with their breasts, to know what they look like, and to know what lumps and bumps are normal for them. (It’s best to do this soaped up in the shower or bath.) But there’s a crucial difference between getting acquainted with your breasts and BSE. BSE is like a search-and-destroy mission. It often makes women tense. And it’s all about trying to find cancer. In contrast, getting acquainted with your breasts gives you a good, integrated sense of your body, which will help you know when something doesn’t feel right. Some women like to do BSE, and that’s fine. But no one should be made to feel guilty for not doing it—especially if they are well acquainted with their breasts.
3. What are the risk factors for breast cancer?
Risk factors are identifiable traits or habits that make some people more susceptible than others to a particular disease. Although we have identified some of the risk factors for breast cancer, we still don’t fully understand what increases breast cancer risk. In fact, 70 percent of the women who develop breast cancer have no risk factors in their background.
Known Breast Cancer Risk Factors:
Gender- Breast cancer is 100 times more common in women than it is in men.
Age- The older you are, the greater your chance of getting breast cancer. Most breast cancer—about 80 percent of all cases—occurs in women over 50.
Race- White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are African American women, but African American women are more likely to die of the disease. Asian, Latina, and Native American women have a lower risk than white women of developing breast cancer.
Family history- About 30 percent of women who develop breast cancer have a family history of the disease.
Reproductive factors- The younger a woman is when she gets her first period and the older she is when she goes into menopause, the more likely she is to get breast cancer.
Pregnancy- Women who have never been pregnant are at higher risk than are women who have had a child before 30. However, women who have their first pregnancy after 30 are more at risk than those who have never been pregnant.
Radiation exposure- Radiation is a known risk factor for cancer in general. Several major studies have confirmed the link between radiation and increased risk of breast cancer.
Previous abnormal breast biopsy- If a biopsy indicates that a woman has atypical hyperplasia, she has about a four times greater risk of developing breast cancer. What does this mean? In a group of 100 women who did not have benign breast disease, 5 of them would be expected to go on to develop breast cancer. In a group of 100 women with atypical hyperplasia, 19 of them would be expected to develop breast cancer.
Diethylstilbestrol (DES) - In the 1940s through the 1960s, doctors gave some pregnant women DES because it was thought to reduce the risk of miscarriage. These women have a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) - Long-term use (several years or more) of HRT slightly increases breast cancer risk.
Alcohol- Studies indicate that drinking alcohol slightly increases risk.
Obesity- Studies indicate that being overweight increases breast cancer risk, especially for postmenopausal women. This is because fat tissue increases estrogen levels and high estrogen levels increase breast cancer risk.
Physical activity—Recent studies indicate that exercise appears to reduce both breast cancer risk and the risk of a cancer recurrence.
4. Do most women die of breast cancer?
Women fear breast cancer more than any other disease. And many people believe that most women die of breast cancer. But that’s not the case. In the US, breast cancer is the fifth leading cause of death for women. Heart disease is first.
Five leading causes of death for American women in 2002:
Heart disease: 356,000
Stroke: 100,000
Lung cancer: 68,000
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 64,000
Breast cancer: 42,000
Approximately 212,920 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the United States in 2006, and approximately 40,970 women will die of the disease.
5. When should I start having mammograms, and how often should I have them?
Everyone agrees that women age 50 and older should have mammograms.
