Clinic offers answers to women worried about breast cancer

B. C. women who are concerned about getting breast cancer can now go to a clinic to learn about their risks and ways to reduce them.

“The clinic is for women who are worried about breast cancer, aren’t sure of their risk and want to know what they can do to reduce their risk,” said clinic leader Carolyn Gotay.

The centre, located at B. C. Women’s Hospital, is being funded by a two- year, $ 350,000 grant from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Originally conceived as a resource centre for women at high risk of developing breast cancer because of factors like family history, the clinic has broadened its mandate to include all those who are merely anxious about breast cancer and seeking clarity.

Research has shown that women’s perceptions of their breast cancer risk do not reflect their actual risk.

A B. C. study in 2004 found that women’s perceptions of their breast cancer risk were, on average, 19 per cent higher than their actual risk as calculated by standard risk assessment tools. On the other hand, a bigger study done in 2005 showed that women at high risk underestimated their risk.

Doctors can refer such women to the new Breast Cancer Prevention & Risk Assessment Clinic or women can just make their own appointments. Group counselling sessions and individual consultations will be offered as part of the program.

Gotay said many women mistakenly believe that heredity ( family history) is the single most important factor in developing breast cancer. But known breast cancer gene mutations only account for up to 10 per cent of all breast cancers, while modifiable lifestyle factors like obesity, inactivity and too much alcohol consumption are believed to be the cause of 40 per cent of breast cancers in the developed world, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.

Other factors tied to breast cancer risk are socio- economics ( higher income), being older at the time of giving birth for the first time, exposure to radiation and the use of hormone replacement therapy.

“We have a lifestyle counsellor on staff who will teach women about physical activity, weight management and nutrition. Not everyone knows about, or believes, what they can do to prevent breast cancer,” said Gotay, a University of B. C. professor and the Canadian Cancer Society chair in Cancer Primary Prevention.

She said strategies like vitamin D supplementation, taking Aspirin or using a chemoprevention drug called tamoxifen might also be discussed with women who are deemed to be at higher risk of developing breast cancer.

In such cases, information sheets will be sent to family doctors to determine whether such recommendations should be implemented.

Women who discover they’re at very high risk of developing breast cancer may be referred to oncologists at the BC Cancer Agency.

To attend the clinic, call 604603- 5140 and to learn more, go online to: http:// breast cancerprevention. med. ubc. ca.