Breast Cancer Prevention

There is no single key to preventing breast cancer. For many women, the odds of getting it are raised merely by genetics—a factor entirely out of their control. For the 90 percent of breast cancer sufferers who do not have a genetic predisposition to the disease, however, potential causes have not been isolated and, therefore, a sensible preventative strategy may be difficult to create with any assurance of accuracy.

Healthy Living

Certainly, practicing a robust collection of healthy behaviors such as eating well, exercising regularly, and largely avoiding alcohol or cigarettes may give one a good health foundation. But these are good practices whether you remain breast cancer-free or not. Just as it is impossible to trace causes of the disease in individuals, so, too, is it impossible to knowingly prevent it.

Preventative Medication and Surgery

Hormone receptor-sensitive women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer may be prescribed tamoxifen to reduce their risks. And women who have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation may consider a prophylactic (preemptive) mastectomy. Studies have shown that such double mastectomy surgery can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by approximately 90 percent. Other women elect to have a prophylactic mastectomy on their cancer-free breast after developing cancer in the other breast. Your doctor can best advise you if you are considering prophylactic mastectomy.

Preemptive Screening

Perhaps the best preventative strategy is proper vigilance. Breast cancer that is found and treated in its earliest phases is quite curable upwards of 90 percent of the time. Accordingly, numerous cancer organizations recommend that women in their twenties do regular monthly self-exams and have clinical breast exams as part of their physicals at least every few years.

Whether you and your doctor closely follow the American Cancer Society recommendation of an annual mammogram every year after age 40 or you choose a different course of action, it is essential that you are somewhat mammogram-conscious so that you never let too many years pass between tests.