Search the resources directory database.
Click the oval to find resources
Breast Cancer Screening
Early detection of breast cancer is very important. Most breast cancers that are found early and treated early are treated successfully. Encourage your friends and family to take charge of their breast health by following these breast cancer screening guidelines.
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY SCREENING GUIDELINES:
- Yearly mammograms are recommended starting at age 40 and continuing for as long as a woman is in good health.
- Clinical breast exam (CBE) should be part of a periodic health exam, about every 3 years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and over./
- Women should know how their breasts normally feel and report any breast change promptly to their health care providers. Breast self-exam (BSE) is an option for women starting in their 20s.
- Women at high risk (greater than 20% lifetime risk) should get an MRI and a mammogram every year. Women at moderately increased risk (15% to 20% lifetime risk) should talk with their doctors about the benefits and limitations of adding MRI screening to their yearly mammogram. Yearly MRI screening is not recommended for women whose lifetime risk of breast cancer is less than 15%.
RISK FACTORS
Being a woman and growing older are the two biggest risk factors for breast cancer. The longer you live, the higher your risk of breast cancer and many other things both bad and good.
The chance of getting breast cancer over the course of a lifetime is 1 in 8, assuming you live to age 90. If you have already been diagnosed with breast cancer, your risk of developing it again is higher than if you have never had the disease. Family history of breast cancer can have a significant impact on risk, but not every case of breast cancer in your family means you are a high-risk candidate. Scientists at the National Cancer Institute have developed a Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool that you can obtain at http://bcra.nci.nih.gov/brc/.
If you have questions about your risk factors, or if you have been diagnosed and have questions about risk factors for your family, talk with your health care team.
WOMEN AT HIGH RISK INCLUDE THOSE WHO:
- Have a known BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.
- Have a first-degree relative (mother, father, brother, sister, or child) with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation and have not had genetic testing themselves.
- Have a lifetime risk of breast cancer of 20% to 25% or greater, according to risk assessment tools that are based mainly on family history.
- Had radiation therapy to the chest when they were between the ages of 10 and 30 years.
- Have Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Cowden syndrome, or Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome or have one of these syndromes in first-degree relatives.
WOMEN AT MODERATELY INCREASED RISK INCLUDE THOSE WHO:
- Have a lifetime risk of breast cancer of 15% to 20%, according to risk assessment tools that are based mainly on family history.
- Have a personal history of breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), or atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH).
- Have extremely dense breasts or unevenly dense breasts when viewed by mammograms.