Breast Cancer and Screening

It’s always very important to find out if a loved one is at risk for breast cancer. Many times screenings are done for women in certain brackets that may be at risk because of one factor or another. At times the statistics of breast cancer do not take into account the many women that go undiagnosed for lengthy periods due to geographic position and also access to screening. An erroneous assumption about breast cancer is that it will only occur in women past a certain age. Just like breast cancer and propensity to it is not a hereditary situation, it’s also not something that discriminates in terms of age.

Breast screening that’s tailored toward younger women is finding more cancers. This should not be surprising when you consider a few things:

1. Younger people tend to fight initial symptoms off a lot more effectively
2. The progression of a tumor can take a while
3. Self examination is not something that a younger woman is likely to do
4. In a younger patient a symptom can be indicative of something else

According to an article published in auntminnie.com “A tailored breast cancer screening program for women between the ages of 40 and 49 is not only feasible and affordable, it’s effective for finding asymptomatic, low-stage tumors, according to a study.” So, in proving that there is feasibility and affordability creating a tailored screening program, there are better chances to fight tumors at what could likely be the earliest stage.