Breast Cancer Awareness - Dispelling a Common Myth
Being out in the community quite a bit, I have heard every reason/excuse why women do not get regular breast screenings. One of the ones that is heard the most is “I don’t need to worry; I have no family history”.
First of all, let’s break down the amount of breast cancers by genetic, familial and sporadic.
A genetic breast cancer means that it is caused by a genetic mutation. In other words, one of your genes that should be repairing your DNA when abnormal cells are encountered by that gene, is broken and cannot do the job of repair that it should. Genetic breast cancers account for only approximately 5-10% of all breast cancers.
A familial breast cancer is breast cancer that runs in families, but there is no genetic mutation. Familial breast cancers account for only approximately 10-15% of all breast cancers.
Finally, a sporadic breast cancer is breast cancer that happens even when there is not a genetic mutation present nor a family history of breast cancer. Sporadic breast cancer accounts for a whopping 75% of all breast cancers. So, think of it this way 3 out of 4 breast cancers are sporadic with no genetic connection or family history.
When you think about the fact that one in 8 women will have breast cancer sometime in their lifetime and that 75% of those women will have no genetic predisposition or family history…..it lets us know the reason that routine screening for every woman is important.
To put this picture into prospective, I encourage you that the next time you are in a large grocery store, that you start counting every woman that you see. Count one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, EIGHT. Imagine every eighth women will get breast cancer sometime in her lifetime. This makes the prevalence of breast cancer very real. Now think that if you were to identify 40 women as that eighth woman who was hypothetically diagnosed with breast cancer, 30 of those women would not have a genetic predisposition or family history. This makes it very real of how many women will be diagnosed with breast cancer sometime in their lifetime and how many will not have a genetic or a familial.
So don’t believe the myth that because you don’t have a family history, you don’t need routine mammograms. Also, don’t be fooled into thinking that if you have had genetic testing and it was negative that you don’t need your yearly mammogram. You still have AT LEAST at general population risk.
Is the risk greater for those who have a genetic mutation or a family history? Certainly. But as you can see the risk for every woman is very real. What is your greatest risk of getting breast cancer? Being a woman! If you are 40 years old or older, protect yourself and your family with a routine yearly mammogram. If you are at a higher risk, these screenings could start sooner. For questions of risk, reach out to the Breast Center. See you soon for your yearly screening.