Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women in the United States. The average risk of developing breast cancer in an American woman is around 13%. That means she has a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer at some point in her lifetime. Finally, the American Cancer Society claims that this year around 42,170 women will die from breast cancer.
Preventive control
The key to early diagnosis and treatment
Breast cancer is treatable when detected at an early stage. However, in addition to early intervention, prevention requires healthy habits, frequent screening and awareness of each woman's risk. Summarised below are 7 tips for early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
1. Find out about breast cancer
Raising awareness is the first and most important step. Breast cancer has millions of victims, who have their own story to tell about the diagnosis, the course of the disease and its treatment. It is a long journey from which everyone comes out stronger.
2. Get to know your body
Self-examination helps to familiarise yourself with your breast and possibly notice changes in it, so that your mammologist can be informed in time. Thus, it is necessary to participate in breast cancer prevention actively from our room, observing our body and its changes.
3. Take care of your body
Exercise and a balanced diet help to regulate your body weight, which is a factor in preventing breast cancer. It is important to lead a healthy lifestyle, free of alcohol and smoking, which seem to increase the chances of developing breast cancer.
4. Find out which tests you need
Discuss with your mammologist which is the right diagnostic test for you, based on your age, your individual and family history. This will help you avoid unnecessary tests that are not right for you, but will also save you valuable time.
5. Learn about mammography
Mammography is the main breast screening test and starts at the age of 40. With it we can detect breast cancer at an early stage and therefore have a chance of cure with appropriate treatment. The radiation dose of digital mammography is minimal, and the discomfort of breast compression is avoided when the mammogram is performed from the 5th to the 12th day after the onset of menstruation.
6. Find out when breast ultrasound is used
Breast ultrasound is an ancillary, complementary test. It does not replace mammography and is not in itself a screening test, i.e. a preventive examination. It can be used as a stand-alone test in women with symptoms under 35 years of age, in pregnant women and in women with dense breasts.
7. Find out if you are "high risk"
If you think you belong to an increased risk group (women with a positive family history of chest radiotherapy at an early age), a check-up by a mammologist is recommended to evaluate risk factors. You may need individualized screening, starting a decade early with an MRI mammogram and possibly be referred for testing for inherited gene mutations (inherited breast cancer only accounts for 5-8% of all cases).
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