While orange may be an October color, so is pink, which is the color for Breast Cancer Awareness month. From athletes who wear pink sneakers to celebrities pinning pink ribbons to their red carpet outfits, efforts to raise awareness for this disease are in full swing, and we want to join them.
About 1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime, and this year, there will be more than 310,000 new diagnoses.
Given the alarmingly high prevalence rate of breast cancer, it's a very good idea to make every effort to screen for this serious disease, and we can help. Dr. Fernando Otero and the team here at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley understand the considerable value of screening tools like breast exams and mammograms, and we want them to be accessible to all of our patients.
Here, we take a look at some best practices for screening for breast cancer.
When you come in for your annual well-woman exam, we often perform a breast exam, which is a quick palpation of your breast tissue to check for any suspicious lumps.
We also explain how you should be on the lookout for any unusual growths in your breasts during these visits.
Once you reach the age of 40, we strongly recommend taking the next step in breast cancer screening with mammograms, which are specialized X-rays of your breast tissue. If you have dense breast tissue, your screening may also involve ultrasound or an MRI.
It used to be that experts suggested that screening between the ages of 40 and 50 be determined on a case-by-case basis. Recently, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has come out with new recommendations that all women get screened for breast cancer starting at age 40 and every other year after that until age 74.
The American Cancer Society goes a step further and recommends that women between the ages of 40 and 54 undergo breast cancer screening every year.
Please keep in mind that these recommendations are for women of average risk. We discuss high-risk screening rules of thumb next.
During your well-woman visits, we spend a good deal of time collecting information from you so we can determine your risks for certain conditions like reproductive cancers.
Some of the bigger risk factors for breast cancer include:
There are also rare diseases that can heighten your risk for breast cancer, such as Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome, but we can evaluate those when we assess your risk.
If we find that your risks for breast cancer are higher than average, we will likely recommend earlier and more frequent screening.
The best way to figure out a good breast cancer screening schedule for your situation is to come see us. To get started, simply contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas, to schedule an appointment.
