Breast Cancer Awareness | Dr. Stephen Sinatra's Heart MD Institute

Men's / Women's Concerns

Breast Cancer Awareness
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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While October is the designated month for breast cancer awareness, the mission extends year round...

October 2010 marks the 26^th year that the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) organization began promoting better awareness of breast cancer. Comprised of national public service organizations, government agencies, and professional media associations, NBCAM actively provides information about breast cancer as well as access to screening services. NBCAM’s mission is to educate and empower women so that they may take control of their own breast health to defeat, if not prevent, breast cancer. Breast cancer afflicts approximately one in every eight women, and kills one in every thirty-five; it is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women.¹ However, due to early detection, breast cancer death rates have declined over the past two decades, especially in women under fifty; there are currently over 2.5 million breast cancer survivors (those who have received or are receiving treatment) in the United States.²

Cartoonist’s Care: The Sunday Funnies Pink Project

On October 10, 2010, over fifty cartoonists will participate in breast cancer awareness month through the Sunday comics section in various newspapers. Visit www.comicsgopink.com to view the pink strips on October 10^th, and to donate to any of the seven following breast cancer organizations (which are great information resources):

The Mammogram Controversy

NBCAM and other breast cancer organizations have done great work in increasing public awareness about the need for early detection of breast cancer through regular self-breast exams and screening. However, NBCAM and some other organizations continue to recommend that women ages 40 and above receive annual mammograms despite controversy surrounding mammogram safety and effectiveness. The standard breast cancer screening tool, mammograms are X-rays of breasts that can help identify lumps which may be malignant tumors.

In November 2009, the United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) released recommendations about breast cancer screening based on impartial reviews of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of mammography. While USPSTF noted the existence of convincing evidence that mammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality, it found that the net benefit of such screening is much smaller for women ages 40 to 49 than for women ages 60 to 69. Reduction of net benefit in 40 to 49 year old women is due to harms associated with regular mammography screening, including “psychological harms, unnecessary imaging tests and biopsies in women without cancer, and inconvenience due to false-positive screening results."³ USPSTF also noted radiation exposure as a consideration. As 40 to 49 year old women experience greater incidence of false positive results, USPSTF recommended that women ages 50 to 74 receive mammogram screening every other year. In "Mammograms' Value in Cancer Fight at Issue," New York Times reporter Gina Kolata voiced similar mammography concerns derived from study results published in late September 2010.

Whether or not to get an annual mammogram is an individual decision for women, who can empower themselves by learning as much as possible about mammogram screening from a variety of sources. The National Cancer Institute has made available online a Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool which may be of use in making decisions involving mammograms. In addition to mammogram screening, some techniques for early detection include self- and physician-conducted breast exams, ultrasound, digital mammography and MRI, and thermography. A form of infrared imaging used to detect heat, thermography can indicate the presence of inflammation, which often is present in pre-cancerous and cancerous cells; it can also be very useful in early detection of any breast abnormalities.⁴

Breast Cancer Treatment is an Individual Decision

If a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, she should learn as much as she can about it. Breast cancer certainly can be treated in a variety of ways, not just the traditional methods of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. If she chooses to undergo conventional therapies, a woman should consider some form of alternative therapy that will compliment her healing. The decision about which therapies are right for her can be difficult, says Dr. Sinatra, “every woman needs to do her own homework and due diligence” when it comes to choosing cancer treatments.

Dr. Sinatra has treated many women who have integrated strategies from both the conventional and alternative models, and strongly recommends Knockout, by Suzanne Somers, as referential reading. Dr. Sinatra thinks Somers’ book is a strong message to women that “when it comes to breast cancer, you’ve got to treat physical, spiritual and emotional aspects of the illness.” He also personally knows many of the experts in Knockout and that many of their recommended alternative therapies do work. Dr. Sinatra says, for instance, that he would send his patients with breast cancer to Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, of the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, Texas. He also recommends Oasis of Hope centers in Irvine, California and Tijuana, Mexico. While entirely different facilities, both Burzynski Clinic and Oasis of Hope offer wonderful options for women who want either less toxic alternatives to conventional breast cancer treatment, or alternative adjunctive therapies to support chemotherapy, radiation and/or surgical treatments.

Breast Cancer Prevention

The best way to fight breast cancer is to try to avoid developing it in the first place through anti-cancer lifestyle choices. In Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom⁵ Board-certified OBGYN Christiane Northrup, M.D. recommends sticking to an anti-inflammatory, high-fiber diet rich in phytonutrients, cruciferous vegetables and omega-3 fats, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting enough sleep as well as moderate daily exercise to promote healthy breast tissue. Limiting consumption of alcohol and non-organic dairy products (which do not contain bovine growth hormone) can also help women avoid excess estrogen (relative to progesterone) which may be associated with greater breast cancer risk. Other preventative measures include stress management and creating emotional health as well as supplementation with coenzyme Q10, vitamin D, and selenium.