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Breast cancer myths exposed

BY POORNIMA JAYARAMAN, THE SOUTHERN

Monday, October 6, 2008 6:58 PM CDT

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and you cannot help but notice all the pink ribbons, products, events and information coming at us in all directions in honor of this month.

Despite all the news stories on the subject, a recent study commissioned by the American Cancer Society found a large number of Americans believe in scientifically unsubstantiated claims concerning cancer.

The tragedy? The population segments suffering the greatest burden of cancer are the most likely to be misinformed.

Here's setting the record straight:

Myth: Young women don't get breast cancer.

"Young women do get breast cancer," says certified breast health specialist Donna Crow, R.N. and breast health patient navigator at The Breast Center in Carbondale. "The youngest girl I knew was 17 when she was diagnosed. Another friend was diagnosed with breast cancer at 21."

Crow hastens to add that the young girls she knew had a high genetic risk for the disease. "I don't want young girls out there scared to death thinking they have breast cancer," Crow says. "The risk increases with age."

While the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer are older than 50, it is possible that you will get breast cancer as a teenager or in your 20s. No woman is too young for breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, five percent of all breast cancer cases are in women younger than 40 years old. One out of 2,212 breast cancer diagnoses will go to a 30-year-old woman.

"Screening for breast cancer in young women is not as effective as in older women," says Marsha Ryan, M.D., J.D., F.A.C.S. and surgeon at The Breast Center. "I recommend that young women at usual risk do monthly self breast exams and report any changes to their physician."

From self-reported data of women registered on the Young Survival Coalition's Web site at www.youngsurvival.org, more than 80 percent of women 40 and younger with breast cancer found the lump themselves.

While most breast lumps are benign, if you notice something that is different from the norm for your breasts, make sure you go to your doctor and have it checked out.

Here's your breast cancer risk by age:

By age 30: 1 out of 2,212

By age 40: 1 out of 253

By age 50: 1 out of 54

By age 60: 1 out of 23

By age 70: 1 out of 14

By age 80: 1 out of 10

More than 80: 1 out of 8

Myth: You will lose your breasts if you have breast cancer.

"Now that is simply not true," Ryan says. "Most women we see are candidates for breast conservation treatment, which focuses on the excision of the primary breast tumor and adjacent breast tissue, while saving the rest of the breast."

"The size of the segment we remove depends on the size of the tumor, which varies in every case. It is remarkable to me even after all these years how much tissue can be removed without much cosmetic deficit to the breast."

According to the American Cancer Society, breast conserving surgery, also commonly referred to as lumpectomy, partial mastectomy or segmental mastectomy, is as effective as a mastectomy for most women with stage I or II breast cancer. The survival rates of women treated with these two approaches are the same.

"Only a small subset of women, maybe 5 to 10 percent, are not candidates for breast conservation," Ryan says. "In those cases, mastectomy becomes the only option."

Myth: Breast cancer always comes in the form of a lump.

"Some cancers don't form a lump," Crow says. "While most do, inflammatory breast cancer, a rare but dangerous form of breast cancer, comes in the form of redness, swelling and thickening of the skin on the breast. The skin can turn to an orange peel texture."

While a lump may indicate breast cancer or one of the many benign breast conditions, women should also be alert for other kinds of breast changes that may signal cancer.

Symptoms include discharge from one breast, dimpling (a pulling in of the breast skin), bulge (area of raised tissues on one breast), itching, irritated or scaly nipple with or without discharge, inversion of a normally everted nipple, rapidly increasing pain with redness or rash, rapid increase in the size of one breast, changes in the shape of a breast or changes in the vein patterns on one breast.

A visual exam of the breasts can often show symptoms that need to be reported to a health care provider.

Myth: Wearing an underwire bra increases your chances of getting breast cancer.

"There is no evidence that this is true," says Ronald Mattison, M.D., breast surgeon and medical director of The Breast Center. "The type of bra you wear has no connection to breast cancer."

According to the American Cancer Society, two anthropologists made this association in a book called "Dressed to Kill." Their study was not conducted according to standard principles of epidemiological research and did not take into consideration other variables, including known risk factors for breast cancer.

The conclusion? Underwire bras cannot cause breast cancer.

Myth: Small-breasted women don't get breast cancer.

"There's no connection between the size of your breasts and your risk of breast cancer," Mattison says. "The No. 1 risk factor is being female. And your risk increases as you get older, regardless of whether you are small- or large-breasted."

In addition to age, family history and genetics also contribute to breast cancer risk. Postmenopausal obesity and weight gain are risk factors, as are having a personal history of breast cancer, certain types of benign breast disease and several hormone-related factors.

Myth: Caffeine causes breast cancer.

"There is no connection between coffee, black tea and caffeine consumption and breast cancer," Mattison says.

According to the American Cancer Society, caffeine may heighten symptoms of fibrocystic breast lumps (a type of benign breast disease) in some women, but there is no evidence that it increases the risk of breast cancer or other types of cancer.

Myth: Personal hygiene products such as antiperspirant, deodorant and shampoo can cause cancer.

"There is no evidence to support that claim," Mattison says. "Personal hygiene products, like shampoo, deodorant and antiperspirants, cannot cause cancer."

A carefully designed epidemiologic study of this issue compared 813 women with breast cancer and 793 women without the disease. The result? No relationship was found to exist between breast cancer risk and antiperspirant use, deodorant use or underarm shaving.

Myth: Breast cancer is the No. 1 enemy of all women.

The No. 1 enemy is not breast cancer but the late detection of breast cancer.

"Its better to know early when it can still be treated successfully than to find out very late in the disease," Ryan says. "Early detection is your best protection."

Experts say a mammogram needs to be coupled with a yearly clinical breast exam and a monthly breast self-exam. Always consult with your doctor when you notice any changes in your breast.

"In the last decade or so, less women are dying from breast cancer due to early detection through breast exams and mammograms and more aggressive forms of treatment for those diagnosed with breast cancer," Mattison says. "When caught early enough, breast cancer is highly treatable. Just don't postpone that mammogram or breast exam."

In addition, healthy lifestyle choices, such as maintaining a healthy weight, getting regular exercise and limiting alcohol intake, are critical components of breast health.

The American Cancer Society encourages women to take charge of their breast health. Early detection is key in reducing breast cancer deaths.

poornima.jayaraman@thesouthern.com / 351-5019

Breast cancer awareness dinner Thursday

MARION - Marion High School Hope Foundation is a newly formed local club that helps raise awareness of breast cancer while promoting community service among high school students at the same time.

The club plans to host a breast cancer awareness dinner, silent auction and raffle at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion. This will be preceded by free guided tours of the Women's Diagnostic Center at 6 p.m.

Tickets cost $15. Tables for four and eight can also be bought for a reduced price. In addition, MHS Hope Foundation T-shirts can be purchased for $15 and wristbands for $2. All money raised will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.

Clay O. DeMattei, M.D., general surgery, Per K. Amundson, M.D., diagnostic radiology, and Dee Austin, a breast cancer patient, will be the guest speakers.

Contact Marty Cameron at 925-1178 for more information.

Free mammograms and breast exams available

As part of the "Beautiful Inside and Out" initiative, beauty salons across Illinois are teaming up with the Illinois Department of Public Health to help promote the importance of routine breast cancer screenings and early detection.

As a part of this initiative, hair dressers and nail technicians help get the word out about the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program to women around Illinois.

The IBCCP offers free mammograms, breast exams, pelvic exams and Pap tests. Uninsured women over the age of 35 can receive free cervical cancer screenings, and women over the age of 40 can receive free mammograms and breast exams.

The Blagojevich administration has teamed up with Walgreens to offer $50,000 in gift cards to women who sign up for the IBCCP during October and schedule a screening for breast cancer. The gift cards are an incentive for women to get screenings that could save their lives.

Contact Little Egypt Breast and Cervical Cancer toll-free at (877) 532-2271 for more information.