Are you confused by changing medical guidelines?
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Black women have always been more likely to die of breast cancer than white women, but this frightening statistic was once tempered a bit because black women were less likely than whites to get breast cancer in the first place. Or at age 45.
“Screened women are more likely to have surgical and radiation therapy, both of which have significant potential risks”, said Frost. In recent years, incidence rates have been stable in white women, but have increased slightly in African American women. The new guidelines were immediately criticized by a few doctors as likely to lead to unnecessary cancer deaths.
“With the data that they are using is based on the mammograms they have used in the past which are 2D and now we are moving to 3D”, said McMahon.
Breast cancer, the ACS says, is the second most common cancer among women in the United States, after skin cancer, and accounts for almost one-third of cancers among women.
In older women, being obese is tied to a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Promote breast cancer awareness throughout the year by donating to organizations that promote breast cancer research, such as the Breast Cancer Research Foundation or the Avon Foundation, which provides screenings to women who can not afford them and support and care for women with breast cancer. “We want our women to be vigilant about their bodies and their breast health, so that if there is anything unusual it can be detected and treated early”, she added.
He conceded that it’s a small number, but it matters if “you’re one of those handful”.
Rawlings said Memorial’s cancer center doctors will continue to recommend that women get mammograms at age 40. Clinical breast exams are encouraged for women in their 20s and 30s as part of a regular health exam every three years.
This month, Faith Community Hospital joined a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of breast cancer and underscore the importance advanced screening.
From 2008 to 2012, breast cancer incidence rates increased in African American women (0.4% per year), and among Asian/Pacific Islanders (1.5% per year), while they remained stable among whites, Latinos and American Indian/Alaska Natives. Understand the benefits, risks, and limitations of breast cancer screening. Now, the racial gap in diagnosis has closed, but the death gap has widened, according to a report from the American Cancer Society. Too often, he said, radiologists interpreting the test results will err on the side of being careful and conclude that an abnormality may be cancerous, suggesting additional tests.
Again, researchers aren’t exactly sure why, though they note that higher proportions of black women are diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer and with a particularly aggressive form of the disease.
“Have a conversation with your patient and find out what is most important to her”, Frost said.
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Thursday’s report from the American Cancer Society that black and white women are now being diagnosed with breast cancer at the same rate, with diagnoses rising for black women, was particularly bad news for black women in Memphis.
