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Breast Cancer Detection and Risk Reduction
Breast Cancer Detection and Risk Reduction
By Michael Faer, MD
The American Cancer Society Guidelines for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer in women without signs of breast cancer are:
- Yearly mammograms are recommended starting at age 40 and continuing for as long as a woman is in good health.
- Clinical breast examination (CBC) should be part of a periodic health examination, about every 3 years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and over.
- Women should know how their breasts normally feel and report any change promptly to their health care providers. Breast self-examination is an option for women starting in their 20s.
- Woman at high risk (greater than 20% lifetime risk) should get an MRI of the breasts and a mammogram every year. Women at moderately increased risk (15% to 20% lifetime risk) should talk with their doctors about the benefits and the limitations of adding MRI screening to their yearly mammogram. Yearly MRI breast screening is not recommended for women whose lifetime risk of breast cancer is less than 15%.
Reduce Risks of Breast Cancer
Prevention of breast cancer is even better than early detection. Although you cannot change or control some factors associated with increased risk of breast cancer (age, family history, age at first full-term pregnancy, early start of menstrual periods (menarche), late menopause), you can affect other risk factors for cancer and decrease your chance of developing breast cancer:
- Reduce postmenopausal obesity
- Eliminate use of postmenopausal hormones
- Decrease alcohol intake
- Increase physical activity
For further information:
American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org
National Breast Cancer Coalition: www.natlbcc.org
National Cancer Institute: www.cancer.gov
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation: www.komen.org
Dr. Michael Faer is the Medical Director of St. Rose Hospital's Women's Center and Diagnostic Imaging Department and is board certified in Diagnostic Radiology with a subspecialty interest in mammography and more than 30 years of experience in interpreting mammograms.
We welcome your questions!
Physicians on staff at St. Rose Hospital are interested in responding to your questions about health care and related topics such as health education and prevention.
Please send any questions to: TheDoctor@strosehospital.org