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“Breast self-examinations are no longer recommended.”
When I read that title a few months ago, I thought it was a typo. Since I found a cancerous mass on my mother which turned out to be stage 3 cancer, I was surprised to learn that many medical organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute no longer recommend breast self-examinations. And they have not been recommended for years.
What happened?
Mom self-exams were implemented in the 1950s as a convenient and inexpensive way for people to detect breast cancer early, when it could be further treated. But shortly after the year 2000, research They found that performing formal breast self-examinations (raising your arms, lying down, circular motions, etc.) does not reduce your risk of dying from breast cancer. United Nations meta-analysis who compared women who performed routine breast self-examinations with women who did not found there was no difference in their breast cancer survival rates. But people who had their breasts examined had more false-positive results and nearly twice as many cancer-free breast biopsies.
Leeward: What you should know about breast biopsies >>
Without data showing that breast self-examinations can reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer, and the chance of injury from unnecessary testing, breast self-examinations are no longer recommended for people at average risk according to most organizations. health care professionals and providers (average risk means you have no personal or family history or genetic mutations, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2).
Larry Norton, MD, a mom’s medical oncologist at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said the change from pausing mom self-exams is no longer recommended doesn’t mean you should stop paying attention to your moms. This is called breast self-awareness.
What is breast self-awareness?
Breast self-awareness is knowing how your moms look and feel so you can identify any changes. “Lack of self-awareness of what’s healthy in your body could prevent you from identifying something that’s not quite right,” Norton said. “It’s really nice to have that knowledge and find something different in your body, regardless of what it is, to pay attention to.”
Unlike mom self-exams, there is no schedule or technique for breast self-awareness, it’s basically using your eyes and hands to know what’s normal for you. Signs of breast cancer you should watch for include:
- masses
- Pain
- Sacral pits in the skin
- Nipple discharge or bleeding.
- Heat redness
- Swelling or changes in size
Norton said changes in nipple appearance and discharge are more obvious, but knowing how your mom feels is important because you may notice signs of breast cancer that your medical provider or imaging tests may miss. “When you touch your mom and you feel an unusually hard spot or an unusual spot that hurts that didn’t used to hurt before, those are things that are a little bit more subtle,” Norton said.
Timeline and risks of mom’s self-exams.
Although most healthcare providers recommend self-awareness over self-examinations, some people may want to follow the standard technique and routine. If you examine your breasts, it is best to do so three to five days after your menstrual period ends, when your breasts are less tender or swollen. If you are postmenopausal, do the self-exam on the same day of each month.
Read: How to self-examine your breasts >>
Risks associated with formal mom self-examinations include false-positive results and unnecessary biopsies of non-cancerous tissue. Researchers say the mental and financial stress of imaging and biopsies also partially explains the reasoning against formal mom self-exams. However, it is important to note that false positive results are common and the chances of having them increase with age. Concerns about false-positive results shouldn’t stop you from paying attention to your breast health and contacting your healthcare provider if you see or feel anything unusual about yourself.
Norton said being familiar with your moms to notice changes is the important lesson from self-exams. But neither breast self-awareness nor self-exams are a substitute for mammograms when it comes to breast cancer screening.
Read: A mammogram saved my life >>
When should you have a mammogram
Currently, mammograms are the gold standard of breast cancer screening. According to the guidelines According to recent data from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), people at average risk should start receiving mammograms at age 40, not at age 50 as previously recommended . The change reflects recent data showing that one in 6 new breast cancers develops in people ages 40 to 49 and is consistent with other organizations that offer screening guidelines.
Recommendations for how often to get tested vary for each organization, with some indicating every year and others every one to two years. You should talk to your healthcare provider about what steps make sense for your circumstances.
Regardless of the guidelines, Norton said if you feel or see anything suspicious, contact your healthcare provider immediately. “I would like to say that your body has been entrusted to you and you should do whatever it takes to honor that trust and one of those things is examinations and another is knowing your body. So if something is abnormal, don’t ignore it.”
This educational resource was prepared with the support of Daiichi Sankyo and Merck.
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