Simply being female puts all women at risk for breast cancer. That and age, race, family history, personal history, genetic make-up, when they had children, when they reach menopause, and a whole host of other possible factors.Now U.S. doctors are officially calling body mass index, breast density, and alcohol consumption predictors of the disease, says Therese Bevers, medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center, at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Bevers helped write updated guidelines for the prevention of breast cancer and presented them at the 12th annual National Comprehensive Cancer Network in Hollywood, Florida on Friday.
The guidelines, featuring the revised list of risk factors, also offer treatment options for women -- including bilateral mastectomy for women who have tested positive for the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 as well as possible medical treatments with drugs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene.
1. Adding in these additional risk factors for breast cancer is encouraging. Women cannot control their family history or age, but can try to maintain a body mass index less than 25, and limit alcohol intake to less than one drink per day. I was surprised that nothing was mentioned about chest x-rays in girls. It was found that girls with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer were four times more likely to develop breast cancer if they had chest x-rays prior to age 20. Though many chest x-rays are necessary, from time spent in private practice, some of these could perhaps be delayed.
Lynne Eldridge M.D.
Author, "Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time"
http://www.avoidcancernow.com
Posted at 5:19PM on Mar 19th 2007 by Lynne Eldridge M.D.