Numbers tell a story: Raising awareness as breast cancer persists | Mark Mahoney

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign established in the early 1980s and observed every October. Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2023 is a month-long global campaign dedicated to educating individuals about breast cancer and encouraging proactive measures for early detection.

During this time, individuals, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits collaborate to raise awareness and promote breast cancer prevention and treatment. It aims to empower women and men to take charge of their breast health and provides a platform for advocacy, fundraising, and support for breast cancer patients and survivors.

Some numbers and related information

The American Cancer Society's estimates for breast cancer in the United States for 2023 are: About 297,790 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women. About 43,700 women will die from breast cancer.

Breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women. The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is 62. This means half of the women who developed breast cancer are 62 years of age or younger when they are diagnosed. A very small number of women diagnosed with breast cancer are younger than 45.

Overall, the average risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about 13%. This means there is a 1 in 8 chance she will develop breast cancer. This also means there is a 7 in 8 chance she will never have the disease.

Risk factors you cannot change

Getting older. The risk for breast cancer increases with age; most breast cancers are diagnosed after age 50.

Genetic mutations. Inherited changes (mutations) to certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Women who have inherited these genetic changes are at higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

Reproductive history. Early menstrual periods before age 12 and starting menopause after age 55 expose women to hormones longer, raising their risk of getting breast cancer.

Having dense breasts. Dense breasts have more connective tissue than fatty tissue, which can sometimes make it hard to see tumors on a mammogram. Women with dense breasts are more likely to get breast cancer.

Personal history of breast cancer or certain non-cancerous breast diseases. Women who have had breast cancer are more likely to get breast cancer a second time. Some non-cancerous breast diseases such as atypical hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ are associated with a higher risk of getting breast cancer.

Family history of breast or ovarian cancer. A woman’s risk for breast cancer is higher if she has a mother, sister, or daughter (first-degree relative) or multiple family members on either her mother’s or father’s side of the family who has had breast or ovarian cancer. Having a first-degree male relative with breast cancer also raises a woman’s risk.

Previous treatment using radiation therapy. Women who had radiation therapy to the chest or breasts (like for treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma) before age 30 have a higher risk of getting breast cancer later in life.

Women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), which was given to some pregnant women in the United States between 1940 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage, have a higher risk. Women whose mothers took DES while pregnant with them are also at risk.

Risk factors you can change

Not being physically active. Women who are not physically active have a higher risk of getting breast cancer.

Being overweight or obese after menopause. Older women who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of getting breast cancer than those at a normal weight.

Taking hormones. Some forms of hormone replacement therapy (those that include both estrogen and progesterone) taken during menopause can raise risk for breast cancer when taken for more than five years. Certain oral contraceptives (birth control pills) also have been found to raise breast cancer risk.

Reproductive history. Having the first pregnancy after age 30, not breastfeeding, and never having a full-term pregnancy can raise breast cancer risk.

Drinking alcohol. Studies show that a woman’s risk for breast cancer increases with the more alcohol she drinks.

Research suggests that other factors such as smoking, being exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer and changes in other hormones due to night shift working may also increase breast cancer risk.

Being proactive

Over the past years I have written about breast cancer during the month of October to highlight the importance of taking proactive actions on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment modalities.

Much of the information, particularly related to potentially preventing this disease has not changed.

The emphasis in this column is to provide a broad overview of risk factors that cannot be changed as well as those amenable to change (i.e., lifestyle actions that can be taken.)

Additional information is provided through the provision of relevant links for a more in-depth understanding of this disease.

Through gaining a better understanding of this disease we may be able to focus our actions on a healthier lifestyle and an improvement in our quality of life.

Additional Resources/ Events Information

The American Cancer Society (ACS) provides an in-depth educational resource that might help lower your risk, such as changing risk factors that are under your control. Access the link at Breast Cancer Risk Factors and Prevention Methods | American Cancer Society

Another resource from the ACS with a discussion on lowering one’s breast cancer risk is available atCan I Lower My Risk of Breast Cancer? | American Cancer Society.

Each October, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and the TMH Foundation partner with our community to stand against breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Check their website for October events and consider participating (and supporting) this important initiative: tmh.org/services/cancer/go-pink

Mark Mahoney
Mark Mahoney

Mark A. Mahoney, Ph.D. has been a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist for over 35 years. He can be reached at marqos69@hotmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Numbers tell a story during Breast Cancer Awareness Month