Know your breast to avoid breast cancer

Regular breast exams, both self-exams and clinical exams by healthcare providers, help women understand what is normal for their breasts and identify any unusual changes early. While these exams haven’t been proven to reduce breast cancer risk, they serve as an extra precaution, especially for those at high risk. However, relying solely on breast exams for cancer detection is not recommended. Experts advise continuing with standard screening methods like mammograms.

Monthly Self-Exams

Women should check their breasts monthly for lumps, thicknesses, or other changes. This self-awareness helps detect abnormalities early. Here’s how to perform a self-exam:

1. Timing: Check your breasts about one week after your period.

2. Method:

   • In the shower, use the pads of your fingers to press firmly and move in a circular motion.

   • Examine all areas, including the armpits.

   • Check the right breast with the left hand and vice versa.

   • Look at your breasts in a mirror for any visual changes.

3. Action: Report any lumps, thickenings, or changes to your doctor immediately. Most lumps are not cancerous, but it’s essential to check.

Mammograms

Imaging, particularly mammograms, is crucial for breast cancer screening:

• Screening Mammogram: A low-dose X-ray taken annually for women over 40 to detect any abnormalities.

• Diagnostic Mammogram: Used to investigate specific problems or follow up on previous findings. Tailored to the patient’s needs and interpreted by a radiologist.

Risk Factors for Breast Cancer

Several factors increase the risk of developing breast cancer, though not everyone with these factors will get the disease. These include:

• Age: Risk increases with age, especially after 55.

• Alcohol: Alcohol use disorder raises the risk.

• Dense Breast Tissue: Makes mammograms harder to read and increases cancer risk.

• Gender: Women are significantly more likely to develop breast cancer than men.

• Genetics: BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations greatly increase risk. Other mutations also play a role.

• Early Menstruation: Starting periods before age 12 increases risk.

• Late Childbirth: Having the first child after age 35 increases risk.

• Hormone Therapy: Postmenopausal estrogen and progesterone therapy heightens risk.

• Inherited Risk: A close female relative with breast cancer increases your risk.

• Late Menopause: Starting menopause after 55 raises risk.

• Never Being Pregnant: Increases risk compared to those who have carried pregnancies to term.

• Previous Breast Cancer: Having had breast cancer increases the risk of developing it again.

While some risk factors cannot be changed, such as age and family history, others, like smoking and alcohol consumption, can be managed to potentially reduce the risk.