Breast Cancer and Prevention

Breast cancer and prevention are important topics. You can think of breast cancer prevention as being ways to prevent cancer from happening at all.

You can also think of breast cancer prevention as being ways to prevent cancer from being a high grade cancer. This is where breast self exam and mammogram guidelines are important.

You cannot prevent breast cancer with a mammogram or breast self exam but you can catch it early.

You can prevent breast cancer by avoiding sources of estrogen getting in your body. Not doing estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) can prevent breast cancer. ERT is used to prevent menopause symptoms. It is also used to keep people feeling younger longer.

But ERT is a cause of breast cancer.

Because estrogen is a high risk for breast cancer, men and breast cancer are not heard of very much. Men and breast cancer are rare but do occur. The lifetime risk of getting breast cancer in men is about 1 in 1000.

This means that each year, about 2000 cases of breast cancer are found in men and 440 men will die from this cancer. There are no mammogram guidelines for breast cancer detection in men. This is because breast cancer is rare in men. Men might notice a lump in their breasts that would show up as breast cancer.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In October, women are reminded of the risk of breast cancer. They are encouraged to have breast self exam, although fewer doctors are recommending it. Breast self exam has not been shown to help detect breast cancer by itself.

Mammogram guidelines indicate that women should have breast exams every one to two years after age forty. If you are at risk for breast cancer because of heredity, you need to have breast exams sooner than age forty.

A breast mammogram is an x-ray that takes two pictures of the breast. It is done for women who have no symptoms or who have found a lump. The breast is flattened between two x-ray plates to spread out the tissue. A mammogram can find breast cancer that is not detected by breast self exam or doctor’s exam. Men can have mammograms, too. A mammogram will show a lump or calcium deposits in the breast that indicate breast cancer. You should check with your doctor to understand your own personal mammogram guidelines.

Doctors often do breast exams when a woman has her physical exam. The breast exam checks for any lumps. Because men and breast cancer are a possibility, men should have breast exams, too. These exams should be done once a year.

If you are at high risk for breast cancer, you should have breast exams in your twenties. You should have mammogram guidelines that are different from regular women.

Or you might have a breast mammogram when you reach 30 to 35 years of age and a breast mammogram each year. Blood tests can show if you are at risk for breast cancer.

Your family history can also be a clue to a higher risk of breast cancer.

Other ways to prevent breast cancer are to limit alcohol. Having a high alcohol content drinks is associated with getting breast cancer.

Exercising and being of normal weight can prevent breast cancer.

Eating healthy food can prevent breast cancer.

If You Are At High Risk Of Breast Cancer Your Prevention Can Be Greater

This is usually when you find you have a genetic risk of breast cancer.

You can take medication to prevent breast cancer. This can include Tamoxifen, a medication used in the treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen blocks estrogen so breast cancer is less. Raloxifene is another medication to reduce breast cancer.

Women can have surgery to remove both breasts. This will prevent breast cancer in high risk people. You can have reconstruction at the same time so it doesn’t look like your breasts have been removed. You need to think carefully if you want to have this procedure done or not. It is a very severe prevention against breast cancer.

Other women have both ovaries removed to prevent breast cancer. This is another severe method of preventing breast cancer. When you remove the ovaries, no estrogen is made in the body, except from fatty tissue.

The lack of estrogen means that no breast cancers can be stimulated. The woman goes through an immediate surgical menopause. She will have hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause but these will usually pass.

Breast cancer and prevention are important topics, especially for women at high risk. Check with your mothers, grandmothers, aunts and siblings.

If any of them have breast cancer, you need to consider one of the preventions for breast cancer. You also need to make sure you have regular mammograms beginning at an early age.

Dr. Christine Traxler
2 2 2010