Breast Cancer 101
When should breast cancer screening begin?
For women with an average risk, screening should start at age 40, yearly.
Most insurance companies will cover 3D mammogram which is more accurate and you are less likely to be called back for additional imaging.
I don’t have family history of breast cancer, why should I get screenings?
90% of breast cancer is sporadic (no family history) and about 10% is familial and 3-5% out of the familial cancer has a gene identified such as the BRCA gene.
What causes breast cancer?
The causes are not exactly clear. However, there are risk factors including hormonal, lifestyle, and environmental factors that may increase the chances of getting breast cancer. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to: age, increased exposure to estrogen (such as early menstruation, late or no prior pregnancies, and late menopause), use of oral contraceptive or hormone replacement therapy, history of chest radiation, alcohol use, and obesity.
https://www.cancercenter.com/cancer-types/breast-cancer/questions
Is having breast cancer a death sentence?
Fortunately, most breast cancers are caught at earlier stages; a mammogram will often show an abnormality before cancer can be felt on physical exam as a lump. This supports the importance of breast cancer screening. When treated appropriately, the survival rate for localized breast cancer is 99% in 5 years, and patients can expect good quality of life.
A smaller percentage of breast cancer patients have the more aggressive tumor type.
Do I have to get a mastectomy if I have breast cancer?
No, most early stage breast cancer can be treated with lumpectomy (removing the tumor along with a rim of healthy tissue around it) which has less pain and a quicker recovery vs. mastectomy. Postoperatively, radiation is typically given after a lumpectomy.
There is no difference in the 20 year survival rate between having lumpectomy+radiation versus having a mastectomy.
What about having a mastectomy on the noncancerous side as prevention?
For the average risk woman with unilateral breast cancer, the risk of cancer on the noncancerous side is be 0.5 to 1.0 percent/year
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/contralateral-prophylactic-mastectomy
The American Society of Breast Surgeons discourages contralateral prophylactic mastectomy as there is no survival benefit and doubles the operative complication risks.
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