Here’s everything young women need to know about early breast cancer prevention
Breast cancer awareness and early prevention is critical for all women, especially for those under 40 who may also have a family history of the disease. Our host Nadya Okamoto sits down with Dr. Sarah Cate, a breast surgical oncologist, to discuss everything young women need to know about early prevention and detection.
Video Transcript
NADYA OKAMOTO: Hi there, and welcome to Hack the Cycle. I'm your host, Nadya Okamoto, co-founder of August, the lifestyle period brand. Today, we're going to be talking about a topic that affects millions of Americans, breast cancer. As a 25-year-old, I'm curious what to know, both for my current and my future self. And so I'm going to go find and talk to Dr. Cate to get some answers to my questions. Let's go.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi, Dr. Cate.
DR. SARAH CATE: Hi, Nadya.
NADYA OKAMOTO: I'm so excited to meet this thing. This is a mammogram machine.
DR. SARAH CATE: You got it.
NADYA OKAMOTO: So how does this work? The boobs go here?
DR. SARAH CATE: One breast goes in at a time. Here, they have gowns. So they try to keep the other side covered, to give you some privacy. So they'll lift up your breast, so that the whole breast gets in here. And then this slowly, slowly compresses downward. And then they take some pictures.
NADYA OKAMOTO: And then it sounds like this turns.
DR. SARAH CATE: The machine rotates. And then for the second set of pictures, it takes a bunch of pictures over an arc, which is the newer form of mammography. The machine is turning.
NADYA OKAMOTO: OK.
DR. SARAH CATE: But your breast is being compressed the whole time. So it's not like twisting.
NADYA OKAMOTO: I Was wondering if it was like clenched. [MIMICS MACHINE TURNING]
DR. SARAH CATE: It sounds horrible. It's not that bad. It's usually about like 30 to 45 seconds per view. It's really, really quick.
NADYA OKAMOTO: And the technician is in the room with you?
DR. SARAH CATE: Yes, exactly. And they can always release you from compression, if, for whatever reason, you're uncomfortable.
NADYA OKAMOTO: So this is X-ray. That's how it works?
DR. SARAH CATE: Correct.
NADYA OKAMOTO: Which is different from an MRI?
DR. SARAH CATE: Different from an MRI, which is magnetic energy. And that, you're usually in the tube.
NADYA OKAMOTO: How far away am I from needing to regularly get a mammogram?
DR. SARAH CATE: Usually, we start mammography at 40 for average risk patients. If you have extensive family history, you need to start earlier. And most likely, you don't need a mammogram before age 30.
NADYA OKAMOTO: I have so many more questions about this and breast cancer. And I would love to chat more.
DR. SARAH CATE: Let's do it. Let's head down the hallway.
NADYA OKAMOTO: OK. Perfect.
DR. SARAH CATE: Nadya, why don't you have a seat up here.
NADYA OKAMOTO: Great. I'm so excited to chat. I have many questions. So let's start from the basics. What is breast cancer?
DR. SARAH CATE: So breast cancer starts in the breast. And basically, any cancer is abnormal growth of cells.
NADYA OKAMOTO: Like what cells are we talking about, for someone who does not come from a premed background?
DR. SARAH CATE: So there's different types of components of the breast. So there's ducts and lobules. And so there's two main different types of breast cancers.
NADYA OKAMOTO: And what are some of the symptoms of someone who has breast cancer?
DR. SARAH CATE: So breast cancer can have a bunch of different symptoms. People can notice that all of a sudden one nipple goes in. They can have blood from the nipple. The skin of the breast can start to look like the skin of an orange. Or they can feel a lump.
Most breast cancers start in the breast, and then they spread to the lymph nodes underneath the armpit on the same side. And from there, the lymph nodes are the gatekeepers to the rest of the body. And then breast cancer can spread throughout the body.
NADYA OKAMOTO: And what age is that when you start to recommend the annual mammography.
DR. SARAH CATE: Usually, we start mammography around 30 for people that have a lot of relatives in their 40s with breast cancer. Average risk women start mammography at 40.
NADYA OKAMOTO: So one of the things that I was wondering, as an anxious hypochondriac myself, are there things that we can do to prevent breast cancer?
DR. SARAH CATE: So certain things are nonmodifiable, such as genetics and having the breast cancer gene mutation or family history. Those things we cannot modify. Things that you can modify are things like body mass index. So we know that patients that have a BMI greater than 25 do have an increased risk of certain cancers. And then people that drink a lot of alcohol do have an increased risk. And it's five or more drinks per week.
NADYA OKAMOTO: I'm curious, how many people does breast cancer affect?
DR. SARAH CATE: It's one in eight in the United States.
NADYA OKAMOTO: How many people under the age of 40 are getting diagnosed with breast cancer?
DR. SARAH CATE: For women under 40, we see about 7%. Breast cancer is primarily a disease of postmenopausal women. So meaning after menopause we see more patients getting diagnosed.
NADYA OKAMOTO: Why does having a baby earlier on in your life, reduce your chances of having breast cancer?
DR. SARAH CATE: It has to do with your exposure to estrogen and then various evolutionary changes that take place once you've had a baby. So the breasts usually, typically become less dense.
NADYA OKAMOTO: What are dense breasts?
DR. SARAH CATE: People often think that it has to do with the way their breasts feel. It's actually the amount of breast tissue that's seen on a mammogram and how it appears. So dense breasts on mammography look white, and cancers also look white.
NADYA OKAMOTO: Thank you so much for sitting down and chatting with me. I definitely feel like I will be back to schedule my own appointment.
DR. SARAH CATE: Thank you so much.
NADYA OKAMOTO: Thank you.
[MUSIC FADES]
