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Are you at risk? |
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Below you will find a very simple survey called the
Breast Cancer Risk
Assessment (click to open). If you are a woman you should take this survey. Yes, men can
get breast cancer, but women are 130 times more likely to have the
disease. The Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation estimated in 2000
that 1,400 men were diagnosed with breast cancer versus 182,800 women. If
you have a spouse, relative, friend or next-door neighbor you care about;
show this information to them. Doctor M. H. Gail, Chief of Bio Statistics at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), originally developed this survey. Laurie Freeman-Gibb, a Nurse Practitioner, working at the Alexander J. Walt Comprehensive Breast Center, part of the Karmanos Cancer Institute is currently using this in her daily practice. Here are some details behind the survey questions. NCI states that the vast majority of breast cancer patients are over 50 years of age, with nearly 50% over age 65. Also, the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation states that one out of eight (or 13%) of women will have breast cancer in their lifetime, the risk increasing with age. According to (NCI), having your first period before age twelve, because of the longer exposure to estrogen increases your chance for breast cancer. Having children after age thirty or not having children at all also adds to the possibility of having breast cancer, according to NCI. Additionally, women who have first degree relatives (Mother, sisters or daughters) are at increased risk according to the institute. There are other risk factors mentioned by the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation such as menopause, dense breast tissue on a mammogram, birth control use or Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), high fat diet, alcohol, level of physical activity, obesity and environmental exposure. They are not included in current risk surveys for two reasons, evidence is not conclusive and researchers cannot yet determine how much these factors contribute to the risk for an individual woman. A breast biopsy is a diagnostic tool doctors perform by taking a sample of tissue to examine under a microscope to check for cancer. There is increased risk for breast cancer because whatever breast changes prompted the biopsies according to NCI. This is especially true if the report shows atypical hyperplasia. Basically that means abnormal changes or growth in cells. For more information see the site www.breastcancerinfo.com, by the Susan B. Komen Foundation. Finally, if you scored a total of 2 or higher on this survey, according to the National Cancer Institute, you should make an appointment to talk to your Doctor. Atypical hyperplasia is probably not in your normal vocabulary, however it is important to ALWAYS get a copy of your mammograms, ultra-sound or biopsy reports and look at the words on them. Doctors will gladly give them to you if you ask. Review the information in depth with your Doctor…and then go to the Internet, encyclopedia, Library or dictionary and look up the words used in the reports. Then talk to your Doctor again if you still have questions or are unsure what it means. Doctors are sometimes busy so you may have to initiate the discussion and questions. Let's talk about mammograms. The American Cancer Society sates that only 66.9% of women over 40 years old has had a mammogram? The American Cancer Society recommends: • Women 40 and over should have a screening mammogram and a clinical breast exam by a health care professional on an annual basis • Women between the ages of 20 and 39 should have a clinical breast exam by a health care professional every three years • All women over the age of 20 should perform breast self-examinations once a month. This allows you to know your body and more easily notice changes. Ms Freeman-Gibb stated that mammograms alone only detect on average 78% of breast cancers. Combining mammograms, ultra sound, clinical breast exams and self-exams increases the detection percentage to 98%. Doctor Kay Miller, Radiation Oncologist at the Miro Cancer Center in Clarkston states that, "There is a general trend toward detecting tumors earlier that have not spread through the duct wall. It used to be that cancer wasn't found until the patient or Doctor felt a lump (sometimes large). Now they are being detected before they can be felt. In women that have regular mammograms, there is a much higher incidence of smaller tumors found which can be more easily treated by a lumpectomy (removing only the cancer and an area around it) rather than removal of the breast." Additionally, the Komen Foundation concurs that detection of breast cancer at an early stage provides a greater chance of survival and more treatment options and that tumors confined to the breast have a 5-year survival rate of over 95%. Additionally, Doctor Miller recommends that you make sure the mammogram you have is performed on quality equipment. She said the American College of Radiology should certify the equipment. Also check if the certification is current. There are two ways to find out…ask or look for the certification tag on the equipment. For more information on the survey, check out the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (National Cancer Institute) at http://bcra.nci.nih.gov/brc/questions.htm. This site provides a self-test; explanations and recommendations based on your scores. A comprehensive, multi media demonstration of Breast Self-Exams (BSE) on a real person available in English and Spanish is located at www.komen.org/bse. If you don't do anything else, visit this site. If you don't have a computer, have someone help you at the Library. This site will make it easy to understand and answer all of your questions and you can revisit it at any time. Additionally, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation recommends that if you are taking or thinking of taking an estrogen plus progestin Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) that you discuss the risks versus benefits of this therapy with your Doctor. This is based on a trial by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). This trial of 16,000 women ended in May of this year when significant increases in cardiovascular (heart) events, invasive (outside of the duct wall) breast cancer and blood clot formation were found. For more information and articles on this trial and hormone therapy see the Women's Health Initiative website at www.whi.org. There have been many articles in the news lately about food and environmental factors that may be a risk to your health. The difference is this isn't an isolated study, but is based on years of clinical trials by respected cancer and government organizations referenced above. Every person's risk is different, but it is much better to know the risks than to do what Laurie calls the Ostrich Syndrome…sticking your head in the ground and ignoring the issue completely. It is your life and body…take charge! Sandie
Parrott is a freelance writer, living in Clarkston… |
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