A leading breast cancer surgeon has revealed four ‘brutal’ pieces of breast cancer advice she wished she could tell patients, in a bid to combat the minefield of misinformation.
Breast cancer diagnoses have jumped by over a quarter since the 1990s, figures suggest.
More worryingly, the incidence of the deadly disease in seemingly healthy under 50 year-olds has risen by a tenth over the last 20 years.
Now, in an Instagram video seen more than 2.6million times, Dr Lauren Ramsey, a Texas-based surgeon offered the tips hoping viewers would think twice about red flag warning signs they may have previously dismissed.
Surveys have consistently shown that fewer than half of women check their breasts with any sort of consistency.
Regularly self-checking doesn’t improve breast cancer survival, overall—some women will develop tumours that are incurable, research suggests.
But with regular self-examination and knowledge of key symptoms, the cancer may be picked up at an earlier stage, avoiding a mastectomy and other more aggressive treatment, she noted.
‘Breast cancer doesn’t always come with a lump,’ Dr Ramsey said.
In an Instagram video seen more than 2.6million times, Dr Lauren Ramsey, a Texas-based surgeon offered the tips hoping viewers would think twice about red flag warning signs they may have previously dismissed
‘Skin changes, nipple discharge, swelling, or subtle pain can be signs too. Know what’s normal for you.’
Equally, just five to 10 per cent of all breast cancers are linked to inherited mutations like BRCA, she said.
Cancer caused by such mutations, if they do develop, are notoriously aggressive.
Famously, actress Angelina Jolie discovered she carried the BRCA mutation, and underwent a preventative mastectomy in 2013 to reduce her risk of the disease.
Dr Ramsey said: ‘You should still get regular screenings even if you don’t have a family history.’
In fact, screening may be the only way some women get their breast cancer detected, she also noted.
‘Dense breast tissue makes breast cancer harder to detect.
‘It’s common and normal, but it may require additional imaging. Ask if your breast density is noted on your mammogram.’
Research has increasingly shown there is a clear danger associated with having dense breast tissue—well over a million women in the UK are at a heightened risk of cancer as a result.
Density is not something you can feel or spot, it requires a mammogram.
So even if a woman is identified as having dense breasts during her routine mammogram—offered every three years from the age of 50 through the national screening programme—she will not normally be informed, and in many cases it won’t even be recorded in her medical notes.
A growing number of experts now argue that women should be told if they have dense breasts and should be offered additional imaging that may be more effective.
Younger women tend to have the most dense breasts, and as levels of oestrogen drop around the menopause, so too does density.
Women with less body fat are also more likely to have dense breasts—but this isn’t universally the case.
There is also increasing evidence that many breast cancers may be linked in part to lifestyle.
‘The lifestyle changes people talk about really do make a difference,’ Dr Ramsey said.
Currently, all women aged between 50 and 70 are invited for screening every three years, with the first invitation between the age of 50 and 53
‘Limiting alcohol and processed foods and increasing daily movement is a great place to start.’
It’s been estimated that around one in 10 breast cancer cases are linked to alcohol, according to a report published in the prestigious Lancet journal.
And some scientists have blamed the rising tide of breast cancer on the a steep rise in drinking levels among women.
Latest World Health Organization data shows that the number of British women engaging in heavy drinking sessions rose by 57 per cent between 2016 and 2019.
Alcohol is broken down in the body to a chemical called acetaldehyde, which is known to stop cells repairing the damage to your DNA that can trigger the development of tumours.
It also increases the amount of hormones in our body, such as oestrogen and insulin, that can make cells in breast tissue divide more frequently, increasing the likelihood of a cancer-causing mutation.
Equally, another Lancet study that looked at over a quarter of a million adults in Europe, found those who ate the most ultra-processed foods (UPFs) had a 10 per cent increased chance of developing cancer in their lifetime.
But this risk only increased with animal-based products and things like artificially sweetened drinks and breads.
Plant-based UPFs like falafels, vegetable spreads, and vegan burgers had little impact.
One in seven women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime—around 56,000 a year—making it the most common cancer in the UK.
The figure stands at roughly 300,000 annually in the US.
