Breast Cancer: Don’t Over diagnose, Do Improve Lifestyle
Avoid Overdiagnosis
When you screen a healthy population for breast cancer, you’re going to get over-diagnosis. This has become particularly evident. As screening practices switched from film-based mammography to digital mammography, we now can detect more small lesions. Only some of those small lesions that we are now detecting will grow into aggressive cancers. For 10-30% of the cases we find a lesion, we don’t necessarily need to cut it out or radiate it; we could follow it to see if it increases in size in a short period of time.
Overdiagnosis is particularly important for older women to consider. We don’t want the elderly woman to feel traumatized by being treated for an indolent lesion; especially when it will not prolong her life and increase her anxiety. Once she’s had lumpectomy and radiation for an indolent lesion, she’ll have follow-up tests for the rest of her life. Overdiagnosis means that she’s likely to endure all this for a condition that might have caused her very little trouble the rest of her life.
To Avoid Overdiagnosis, Only Do Risk-Based Screening
At the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, we’ve developed the free BCSC Risk Calculator. It can be accessed from https://tools.bcsc-scc.org/bc5yearrisk/calculator.htm and downloaded . It’s also available for download to your iPhone from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bcsc-risk-calculator/id919034661?mt=8.
One of the goals of the Risk Calculator is to encourage health care providers to assess a woman’s risk before deciding to screen for breast cancer. We now know that it’s common for women to over- or underestimate breast cancer risk. With this tool, health care providers will have a much more accurate picture of a woman’s individual risk; they can then delay screening to a later age and/or screen those who are at low risk for breast cancer less often.
Instead of merely going by age, we can now also take into account other aspects of the patient. We can consider the individual’s ethnicity, breast density, and whether she’s had a first-degree relative with breast cancer. Another thing we could consider is whether she’s had a breast biopsy, and if so, the breast biopsy outcome. The Risk Calculator is free, simple, easy-to-use, and can decrease the risk of overdiagnosis by tailoring screening to a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
We Need a New Paradigm for Responding to Small Lesions
As it is, all small lesions are biopsied to determine if they are cancer. However, some lesions put women at risk for breast cancer, but are not themselves cancer. In the same sense that moderate hypertension is a risk factor for stroke, but hypertension is a condition, not a disease. Whether it’s a small lesion or moderate hypertension, the symptoms bear watching, but they’re symptoms, not the disease itself that requires aggressive treatment. Research is underway to monitor small lesions rather than removing all of them.
Lifestyle Modifications are Important for preventing Breast Cancer
The data are clear: if a woman is overweight or obese and reduces her weight, she’ll reduce her risk of breast cancer.
The data are also clear that exercise is important for risk reduction. She needs to be physically active for at least 20 or 30 minutes for 5 to 7 days per week. A brisk walk is good, taking the stairs, and vigorous housework such as gardening, vacuuming or sweeping will also help. Her goal should be movement as opposed to just sitting.
As for diet, there aren’t enough large-scale diet studies to allow us to say which diet is most protective against breast cancer. A Mediterranean Diet, one that’s high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, seems to hold some promise, but we aren’t in a position right now to be sure. What we do know is: if your patient is overweight, she needs to consume fewer calories, and whether she’s overweight or not, she needs to exercise 5 to 7 days a week.
Search Articles
Latest Articles
Ukrainian Refugee Children’s Lives Are Better Because of a Benefactor They’ve Never Heard of
https://foreignpress.org/journalism-resources/ukrainian-refugee-childrens-lives-are-better-because-of-a-benefactor-theyve-never-heard-of Publication –foreignpress.org
Mental Health Empowerment with Mitzi Perdue | Discover Your Potential
Mental Health Empowerment with Mitzi Perdue | Discover Your PotentialWatch The Episode About The Episode Join us on this insightful episode of Discover Your Potential (sponsored by Betterhelp) as we sit down with Mitzi Perdue, philanthropist, author, and passionate...
Money Does Stink: Michael Podolsky’s Fight Against Corporate Complicity in Russia
https://foreignpress.org/journalism-resources/money-does-stink-michael-podolsky-fight-against-corporate-complicity-in-russia Publication –foreignpress.org
Gina Gardiner & Friends: Mitzi Perdue
Gina Gardiner & Friends: Mitzi Perdue About The Episode Welcome to the 'Gina Gardiner & Friends Show' - this episode features my guest, Mitzi Perdue whose theme was 'A New Perspective On The War In Ukraine'. About The Show The Gina Gardiner & Friends Show is...
Subscribe to Updates
About Author
Mitzi Perdue is the widow of the poultry magnate, Frank Perdue. She’s the author of How To Make Your Family Business Last and 52 Tips to Combat Human Trafficking. Contact her at www.MitziPerdue.com
All Articles
Choosing Your Family Business Advisors
Choosing Your Family Business AdvisorsKnow when you need to get help. People often ask me the secret of Frank Perdue’s success. He had to do hundreds of things right. He had to be able to see the big picture as well as be detail oriented. But there was something else:...
Substance Abuse and the Family Business
Substance Abuse and the Family Business When it comes to substance abuse, members of a family business are no more immune than the rest of the population. However, as family business advisor Loyd Rawls points out, the consequences can be more dire because serious...
Infertility: Advances In Treatment
Infertility: Advances In TreatmentAge and Infertility are Linked Infertility affects roughly 12% of women. By the time a woman is in her early 40s, her chance of infertility rises to 20%. It’s a particularly difficult problem for the older woman because the quality...
Career Advice for Young People: Shut Up and Listen!
Career Advice for Young People: Shut Up and Listen! Jack Tatem, a former Perdue Vice President, has some serious advice for young people. It’s simple and it can make a big difference in your career. It has to do with listening. The advice is, “Shut up and listen!” He...
Embedding The Family’s Values by Creating an Ethical Will
Embedding The Family’s Values by Creating an Ethical WillOriginal Article written by Mitzi can be found here. Much as I admired Frank Perdue for his success with his family poultry business, I admired him even more for his success as a family man. Since the happiness...
6-Step Solution to Almost Any Problem
6-Step Solution to Almost Any Problem 1. Describe the Problem. Preferably do this in writing. The act of putting the problem into words can clarify your thinking. 2. Write Down the Obstacles. Although I’m a fan of positive thinking, I’m also a fan of research...