With the sad news around you that someone your age has breast cancer, do you worry that the same will happen to you? The first time you wake up and find changes around your breast, it’s not a lump, but could be cancerous? Let’s find out the truth about breast cancer with the experts!
Rumor #1: Once breast cancer is detected, the tumor must be removed immediately or it will spread quickly.
Truth: Only a very small number of cases are among the tumors that spread very quickly and require immediate action. Generally speaking, breast cancer progresses more slowly than most other cancers. Breast cancer that is detected by screening has been present in the breast for essentially 3-15 years.
Advice to you: In most cases, it is absolutely helpful to take a few weeks to examine your other options, such as the possibility of breast-conserving treatment rather than a total mastectomy. You can also use this time to get other doctors’ opinions, which will also give yourself plenty of time to adjust psychologically.
Rumor 2: Most women who develop breast cancer have a family history of the disease.
Truth: Only about 15-20% of breast cancer patients have a family history of the disease. Even in this percentage, it’s not always the genes that play a role. Sometimes the common causative factors are simply similar lifestyles, behaviors, and dietary habits among relatives.
Advice to you: Just because someone in your family has breast cancer doesn’t mean you are necessarily at risk for a genetic mutation or that that genetic gene will necessarily trigger the cancer and strike at some point. But it’s still important to know your family history and to be diligent about getting screened for breast cancer.
${FDPageBreak}
Rumor #3: If you don’t have any contributing factors, you won’t get breast cancer.
Truth: The vast majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have any known causative factors. However, the chance of developing breast cancer is still higher if: someone in your family has had breast cancer; you have never had children or had children after age 30; you drink alcohol more than once a day; you start your period at a younger age or have a late menopause; you are overweight or have a sedentary lifestyle after menopause.
Advice for you: There is no absolute way to prevent breast cancer from occurring, but you can reduce your risk by exercising, controlling your weight, and limiting alcohol intake. People at high risk should have a complete breast exam every year. Those women with very high risk factors (a family history of the disease or biopsy results showing atypical cells) should consider taking anti-estrogen drugs.
Rumor 4: The first sign of breast cancer is a painless lump.
Self-examinations are performed monthly
Truth: Many women are diligent in performing breast examinations for the purpose of finding lumps. But we should also be aware of any thickening, redness, or asymmetry of the breast tissue. In addition, it is important to watch for changes in the nipple and skin.
Advice for you: Perform monthly self-examinations starting at age 20. A thorough breast exam should involve the area around the collarbone and even the bilateral lymph nodes (under each side of the armpit). Remember, 8 out of 10 lumps are benign. Most of the lumps you find will be benign cysts (or fibroids). But if you find any lumps, don’t be late and go to your doctor immediately to get a diagnosis for you.
Rumor #5: Breast cancer kills more women than other cancers.
Truth: More women die from lung cancer than breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, about 72,130 people died from the former in the United States in 2006, compared with 40,970 for the latter. And the death rate from breast cancer is decreasing. Today, most cancers can be detected much earlier when they are easily treatable.
Advice for you: Your chances of survival depend a lot on the stage at which the cancer is detected. Therefore, regular mammograms and mammograms can help you find it at a stage when it is still treatable.
${FDPageBreak}
Rumor #6: Anyone who is tested for breast cancer must receive chemotherapy.
Truth: Chemotherapy may be needed. However, there are several types of breast cancer that are treated with surgery or radiation therapy, supplemented with hormones. Breast cancer is not just a single disease; it comes in many types, and each type is different at different times of development. Although doctors just refer to them collectively as breast cancer, different types of breast cancer require completely different treatment methods. Therefore, each person with breast cancer is treated differently.
Advice for you: Detecting the tumor early usually means less chance of needing chemotherapy. But if it’s part of your treatment, it doesn’t mean the cancer is worse. Chemotherapy can get rid of cancer cells from your body as early as possible and, to a higher degree, can prevent them from spreading to improve the quality of life.
Rumor #7: Having a mammogram once a year can expose you to too many rays, and that can lead to breast cancer.
The truth: The word “never” is never in any medical book, and all we can say is that very, very few breast cancers are caused by regular mammograms. Mammograms do carry a small amount of radiation, but they are done under strict monitoring of industry standards and rules, so they are relatively safe.
Advice for you: you should have annual mammograms starting at age 40. If you’re under 40 and not at high risk for breast cancer, you don’t need this screening yet. If you are under 40 and are in the minority with breast cancer, talk to your doctor about whether you need a mammogram with other imaging modalities, such as ultrasound and MRI.
Rumor 8: Standard mammograms are outdated and not as effective as other imaging tests.
Truth: Studies have shown that regular mammograms can reduce the chance of death by as much as 44%, and while this number has been questioned on many fronts, it is undeniable that standard mammograms are still the best of the available regular fluoroscopies. When there are concerns about mammograms, many patients benefit from using ultrasound or MRI as a supplement.
Advice for you: If you are under 50 years old, have thick breasts, or are still menstruating, you can ask your doctor to perform a digital mammogram (using a computer, not an x-ray, to record breast imaging). If the results of the breast photograph are suspicious, talk to your doctor about supplementing an ultrasound to avoid a possible but unnecessary biopsy that could leave scar tissue and prevent future observations.
Rumor 9: Once breast cancer has not recurred in 5 years, your cancer is completely cured.
Truth: Even though most recurrences occur within 3-5 years of the last episode, breast cancer can actually recur at any time, no matter how long it has been. Some patients have even had a recurrence 30 years after cure. And 5 years is only used as a concept of time in terms of medical statistics. For patients, the number is not meaningful, only the absence of recurrence is the hard truth.
Advice to you: statistically, 25% of breast cancer recurrences are 5 years after the first one, so whenever you have had breast cancer, even in the distant past, when you notice new signs, make sure you go to the doctor.