Breast Cancer Awareness: Women urged to regularly self-examine

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Breast Imaging Society of South Africa (BISSA) is urging women to regularly self-examine and have an annual mammogram from the age of 40.

Who is at risk of developing breast cancer?

Every woman is potentially at risk of getting breast cancer.

However, certain factors will place them in a higher risk category, including:

• Age: the risk of developing breast cancer increases as one gets older; however, one out of eight invasive breast cancers are found in women younger than 45.

• Family history: breast cancer risk is higher among women whose close blood relatives have had the disease. Having one first-degree relative (parent, sibling, child, or maternal grandmother) with breast cancer approximately doubles a woman’s risk. Having two first-degree relatives increases her risk about three-fold.

• Personal history: a woman with cancer in one breast has a three to four times increased risk of developing a new cancer in the other breast or in another part of the same breast. This is different from a recurrence (return) of the first cancer.

• Dense breast tissue: Women with dense breast tissue (as identified on a mammogram) have more glandular tissue and less fatty tissue and thus a higher risk of breast cancer. Unfortunately, dense breast tissue can also make it harder for doctors to spot problems on mammograms, which makes regular self-examination and regular screening even more important.

• Overweight or obese women: research in the past has shown that being overweight or obese increases the risk of breast and other cancers.

More recently, a larger study suggests that overweight and obese women diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer have a higher risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence) and are less likely to survive the disease.

Healthy eating and weight management are especially important.

• Lifestyle factors: excessive alcohol use, little to no physical activity, smoking, and diets high in saturated fats increase the risk of breast cancer.

• Radiation to the chest before 30 years of age: radiation to the chest to treat another cancer (not breast cancer) such as Hodgkin’s disease or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, results in a higher-than-average risk of breast cancer.

• Hormonal environment: women who have not had a full-term pregnancy or have their first child after age 30 have a higher risk of breast cancer compared to women who gave birth before age 30.

Breastfeeding can lower breast cancer risk, especially if a woman breastfeeds for longer than one year.

Women who started menstruating younger than age 12 have a higher risk of breast cancer later in life.

The same is true for women who go through menopause when they are older than 55.

Current or recent past users of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer.