SAN ANTONIO — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved yearly by taking preventative measures.
When caught early, the relative survival rate of breast cancer is 99 percent. That's why spreading awareness about the disease and getting screened is important, not just this month but year-round, and it starts with knowing your risk factors.
Dr. Marcela Mazo Canola, an assistant professor in the division of hematology-oncology at UT Health San Antonio and a breast medical oncologist at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center told us, "The most important risk factors for breast cancer include aging. So as we age, our risk goes higher."
Besides age, some of the biggest breast cancer risk factors are inherited genes, especially BRCA1 and BRCA2, family history, dense breast tissue and having children at a later age. Those BRCA genes are actually mutations in your DNA.
Dr. Mazo added, "If you are found to have a mutation, your screening is going to be different than the general population. And what I what I'm referring to as different is maybe you need an MRI, maybe you need a sonogram before you even turn 40 years old."
For the general population, the U.S. Preventive Task Force Services recently made a change as far as when to start screening mammography. So now it is recommended that all women start their screening for breast cancer at age 40. That used to be 50. The reason for the change, more younger women are being diagnosed with the disease. Then, once you start your screenings, you get screened every other year through age 50, then every year through age 75.
Lowering stress is another way to lower your risk of many cancers. Dr. Mazo said, "Moderating your level of stress is going to be helpful probably to decrease the risk of cancer and probably also to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease."