Breast Cancer Awareness Month a reminder to take prevention measures
As we celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month and more hopeful news emerges about cancer treatment, we are reminded how important it is to get regular screenings.
Doctors recommend that patients get a yearly mammogram starting at age 40 — or earlier if you have a family history of
breast cancer. Men need to stay alert because they, too, can get breast cancer, as can nonbinary and transgender people.
Regular breast exams are essential; early intervention can save your life and reduce the need for invasive treatments. It’s also important to look for warning signs, like breast lumps or swelling, nipple pain or discharge and skin irritation or dimpling. Medicare pays for yearly mammograms, but check with your healthcare provider to make sure you’re meeting the coverage criteria.
Luckily, breast exams are increasingly accurate thanks to medical advances. Three-dimensional (3D) mammography shows greater clarity than the traditional screening and can differentiate cancer from overlapping non-cancerous tissue. If questions arise, 4D mammography can get a more precise look by compensating for movement as subtle as a patient’s breathing.
And, more breakthroughs await. Doctors are talking openly about the possibility of creating vaccines to protect people with a precancerous condition or a genetic predisposition to cancer. These vaccines would “teach” cells to recognize tumors as foreign, keeping the tumors from growing.
Researchers also foresee using blood tests to find cancer cells, even before a scan.
Such advances could save millions of lives and treatment expenses. The average breast cancer treatment can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000, according to an April 2020 study published in the peer-reviewed journal, Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
Early, accurate detection and cost reduction is especially important for demographic groups who are disproportionately affected by breast cancer. About one in eight U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, while men make up about one in every 100 breast cancer diagnoses.
The latest research also shows that Black, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Native American and Hispanic (Latina) women are more likely to develop invasive breast cancers at younger ages and at more advanced stages than Caucasian women. And, these groups suffer from a higher percentage of breast cancer deaths at younger ages.
In Chicago, African-American women have a four-to five-fold greater risk of death from hormone-dependent breast cancer compared with white women, even after controlling for the cancer’s stage at diagnosis, treatment, and other known prognostic factors, according to the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force.
Social media campaigns have stepped up to provide awareness tips, including one called “Drink Less for Your Breasts” that points to alcohol as a risk factor.
In fact, drinking alcohol increases the risk of other cancers, too, including liver and colorectal cancers.
But binge drinking — four or more drinks — is specifically associated with higher breast cancer risk, according to research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The good news is that progress is real. Cutting back on alcohol, staying on top of regular breast exams and medical advancements all reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. The future portends a combination of prevention, medical breakthroughs and faster, less invasive
treatments.