Breast Cancer Awareness

October - Breast cancer awareness month

this thread is about breast cancer, mearly because that is what month it is, NOT because this is a prefered cancer, all cancer can be and regularly is deadly, do not take it lightly.

Once again, I will be doing this thread in a simple Q and A style, with FAQ being answered. If you have any questions that aren't answered, post or pm me and i will do my best to help

There will be different varieties of questions, from simple ones of how likely, to more complex where, if you don't understand, you'll have to look up or ask. I'll try to even out the questions so all people can read it.

1 in 8 women get breast cancer, correct?

Statistics are a horrible thing, and this is very general, so here is a easier way to understand it, and shows you the risks.

20-30 - there is a 1 in 2000 chance.

30-39 - there is a 1 in 229 chance.

40-49 - there is a 1 in 68 chance.

50-59 - there is a 1 in 37 chance.

60-69 - there is a 1 in 26 chance.

This means that in your life, there is a 1 in 8 chance, but it is misconceived when misunderstood.

Do I need to do monthly checks?

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's 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.

No one in my family has had breast cancer, can I get it?

Yes, you can. When women learn that breast cancer can be a genetic disease, they often think this means it is a disease that must be inherited. But that's not the case. A genetic disease is one that is caused by a genetic mutation that is either inherited or arises spontaneously. Only about 30 percent of the women who develop breast cancer have a family history of the disease. The other 70 percent have what is called a "sporadic occurrence." This means there is no known family history of the disease.

When should I have mammograms and how often?

Everyone agrees that women age 50 and older should have mammograms. But there has been quite a controversy for a number of years now as to whether women between the ages of 40 and 49 should also have annual mammograms. The problem is that women between 40 and 49 typically still have dense breasts, and on a mammogram, this dense breast tissue shows up as white—which is the same color that cancer appears as on a mammogram. With menopause, which typically begins around age 50, the dense tissue in women's breasts is replaced with fatty tissue, which looks gray on a mammogram. It is much easier to see the white cancer against this gray background, which is why mammography works better on women aged 50 and older.

To date, eight randomized controlled trials have found that mammography screening for women between 40 and 49 has no effect on mortality. Even so, some health organizations continue to recommend annual mammography for women between the ages of 40 and 49. At first glance, there would seem to be little harm in this recommendation. But there is a downside. Many abnormalities seen on mammograms may not be cancer (these are called false positives), but they will prompt additional testing and anxiety. In fact, as many as three out of 10 women who begin annual screening at age 40 will have an abnormal mammogram during the next decade, and the majority of these will end up having biopsies—only to learn that the test was a false positive.

The bottom line: Even in older women, mammography is far from a perfect screening tool. It may help you find your cancer early, but finding a cancer "early" is not a guarantee that your life will be saved. New data suggest that there are different types of cancers and that how quickly a cancer progresses has more to do with the type of cancer it is than when it is found. Probably the best way to decide when you should begin having mammograms is to discuss your personal risk factors for breast cancer with your physician.

Are there foods that can help?

Yes! The foods and drinks that can lower your risk include: red-orange produce, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, beans, lentils, fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, tofu, and soy milk. The foods and drinks that can raise your risk include: high-fat dairy, sugar, alcohol, and red meat.

Does weight influence chances?

It's the one thing most doctors agree on: If you can do only one thing to lower your lifetime risk, it should be maintaining a healthy weight. Packing too many pounds can increase your breast-cancer chances by 30 to 60 percent, says Carolyn Aldigé, of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. (Particularly worrisome is often-hidden abdominal fat, which on its own can raise your risk by 43 percent.)

See, fat cells don't just sit still; they can pump out extra estrogen, says Karen M. Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. So the more fat cells you have, the more estrogen is likely coursing through your body. And the more of that circulating estrogen you have over the course of your life, the higher your breast-cancer risk, says Graham Colditz, M.D., Ph.D., of the Institute for Public Health at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.

Plus, being overweight or obese means you're providing a host environment for cancer progression, says Lee W. Jones, Ph.D., of the Duke Cancer Institute. "That's lots of insulin, lots of glucose, lots of inflammation—all of which conspire to speed up cancer-cell growth once a malignancy occurs."

Exercise and stress?

More than 60 studies have shown physical activity reduces breast-cancer risk," says Leslie Bernstein, Ph.D., director of the division of cancer etiology at City of Hope National Medical Center/Beckman Research Institute. "In fact, exercising three or more hours per week could reduce your risk by 20 to 30 percent."



Being permanently tired an stressed can steer you toward risk-boosting behaviors such as smoking, drinking, or overeating. But research suggests long-term stress might open an even bigger door to breast cancer by increasing blood flow to tumors, triggering hormones that encourage tumor growth, and sending your body into a state of constant inflammation. Need yet one more reason to chill? Chronic stress may increase the growth and spread of one of the most deadly forms of breast cancer—"triple negative"—for which there is no proven treatment.

As I said at the start, this is a serious issue, take worries seriously

Kat out