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Questions and Answers: A Look at Breast Cancer
David Chan, M.D. |
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Q: Why do so many women get breast cancer? A: In the United States, there were about 275,000 new breast cancer patients diagnosed last year. Contrary to common belief, most breast cancer is not inherited. About 80% of new breast cancer patients have no direct relative who has had breast cancer. Breast cancer is much more common in high socioeconomic areas such as North America and Western Europe. It turns out that our lifestyle and dietary habits during puberty and teenage years are important risk factors. Because of high calorie diets, our girls tend to enter puberty several years earlier than girls in Third World countries where food is much harder to come by. Our young women tend to delay childbirth until after schooling is complete and a career is well underway. Unlike our counterparts in Third World countries, we tend to have fewer kids, have them at an older age, and tend to not breast feed longer than 1-2 months. All of these factors increase the time of estrogen stimulation during breast development and this is thought to be the major cause of the high rate of breast cancer in our country. Q: If the major risk factors occur at a young age, what can a mature woman do? A: For the average mature woman, not much can be done to reduce her breast cancer risk. Therefore it is vitally important for her to undergo breast cancer screening so that if a breast cancer occurs, it can be found early and cured with minimal treatment. Follow the American Cancer Society guidelines and have a mammogram every year starting at the age of 40 and practice breast selfexam. Small cancers have higher cure rates and a much lower need for mastectomy which is complete removal of the breast. Continue » |
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