Obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Janet Matthews at the Women’s Center says Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) is a good time for women to assess their health.
She said breast cancer is behind heart disease and lung cancer as a killer of women, but only because breast cancer is usually caught early.
“A clinical manual breast exam is recommended for all women annually,” she said. “Any woman over age 40 who hasn’t had an exam needs to see their doctor. I also recommend that women do a self breast exam once a month.”
Matthews said family history of breast cancer is not the strongest indicator that a woman is at risk.
“Most cases of breast cancer are in women who do not have a family history,” she said. “The biggest risk factor is just age. Then there is family history, obesity, a high-fat diet, women who started having periods early then went into menopause, and women who have never given birth.”
Having had a history of breast feeding can actually reduce the chances of breast cancer, Matthews said. She added that there definitely need to be more women taking better care of their breasts.
“The women who come to me are more conscientious,” she said. “I don’t know how many women out in the community haven’t had a breast exam in years or have never had a mammogram.”
Matthews said reasons women don’t get an exam may include a lack of insurance, being too busy taking care of children or aging parents, or fear of what they may find out.
Early detection is very important, Matthews said, because the cancer can be removed before it spreads to other parts of the body.
“I think the main message I’d like to get across is to do the recommended screening but don’t let it stop you from thinking about other things like heart disease,” she said. “I’m not demeaning breast cancer — I’ve had it myself — but concerns about breast cancer need to be part of a whole healthy life style.”
The organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure says that from the 1940s until recently, the rate of new cases of breast cancer in the United States increased by a little over one percent a year. In the 1980s, the rate of new cases rose markedly (likely due to increased screening), and during the 1990s the rate of new cases leveled off. About 192,370 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women in 2009. In 1975 the incidence of breast cancer was 107 per 100,000 for white women and 94 per 100,000 for black women. Thirty years later in 2005, the number of new cases per year had risen to 126 per 100,000 for white women and 114 per 100,000 for black women.