By Mary O’KEEFE

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to breastcancer.org, about one in eight women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime. In 2020 about 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 48,530 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the U.S., with some types of skin cancer being the most common. Statistically, Black and White women get breast cancer at the same rate but Black women die from breast cancer at a higher rate than White women.

According to cancer.org/American Cancer Society, breast cancer typically presents no symptoms when the tumor is small and most easily treated, which is why screening is important to detect the disease early.

Though there is some discussion on how often a woman should be checked for breast cancer, for Dr. Mary Yamashita, director of the Breast Cancer Center at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, the answer is annually.

“We follow the American College of Radiology guidelines and we recommend that every woman should start her screening mammogram at the age of 40. It should be done every year as long as you are in good health and expect to live 10 years or longer,” Yamashita said. “So it’s pretty simple: start at age 40 and then [continue] every year.”

She understands that some women are concerned about getting a mammogram each year due to the exposure to radiation but she said exposure to radiation is not cumulative.

“The radiation dose is very low,” she said. “The radiation dose that a woman is exposed to with a mammogram is so low it doesn’t contribute to developing breast cancer in the future.”

She explained that in the past a breast imaging task force recommended having a mammogram every two years; however, that recommendation was not related to radiation exposure but due to the costs of having a mammogram.

Women are by far most affected by breast cancer; however, men make up about 1% of all breast cancer cases.

“We do see male patients at our breast center, and they mainly come in because they have breast pain,” Yamashita said.

The pain is usually behind the nipple or they may have found a lump in their breast area. Men who come into the USC-VHH Breast Cancer Center are evaluated and treated as required.

It is important to note that the size of the breast does not make one more or less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

When getting a mammogram, it is equally important where patients go as it is when they go.

“I think the most important thing is to be at a place where you have a team of multiple breast cancer specialists,” she said.

Not all breast cancer is the same and not all women, or men, will respond in the same way to treatment, either physically or emotionally.

Yamashita added women, and men, should feel comfortable enough with their doctor to ask questions regarding their breast health.

“There are no wrong questions,” she said.

There have been advancements in the technology of the detection of breast cancer. Next week CVW will focus on that new technology, some which is in use now and some that is being studied for the future.

  Mary Okeefe