Importance of Breast Screenings
From the Show: Highland Medical P.C.
Summary:
Air Date: 10/1/19
Duration: 10 Minutes
Dr. Sunny Mitchell discusses the importance of breast screenings.
Transcription:
Prakash Chandran (Host): About one in eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. So, it’s really important to have regular screenings because early detection can help save lives. But what exactly do you need to know about these screenings and what should you do to stay healthy? Let’s talk about it with Dr. Sunny Mitchell, a Breast Surgeon from Highland Medical P.C. and the Medical Director of the Breast Center at Montefiore Nyack Hospital. This is Sound Advice, the podcast from Highland Medical P.C. I’m Prakash Chandran. So, first of all, Dr. Mitchell, tell us why it’s so important that women have regular breast screenings.
Sunny Mitchell, MD (Guest): So, regular breast screenings are used to look for breast cancer. And if breast cancer is present, and you get a regular screening; the chances are very, very high that you’ll catch it very early and therefore it will be very treatable.
Host: What age should women start doing this for themselves? Like for example, my wife is 30 years old, we just had our first baby; is this now a good time to start getting it done?
Dr. Mitchell: Congratulations. But you know for most women, the age to start screening mammograms is 40 years old. The recommendations do vary a little bit from society to academic society but there is a general consensus that age 40 for women who do not have an elevated risk or women who are not at high risk of getting breast cancer is a good age to start. Women who do have what we consider increased risk or high risk for breast cancer; maybe they have family members with breast cancer, or they are gene positive for genes that increase the risk of breast cancer or maybe even may have had a history of breast cancer or a couple of other factors; those women we would have start earlier than 40.
Host: Got it. So, if for example, my mother-in-law did have breast cancer, so because there’s a history in the family; then that would make my wife on the high risk spectrum. Is that correct?
Dr. Mitchell: You know not necessarily. It may place her at higher risk. So, the things that we look at – so we would look at for example, your mother-in-law’s age. Most women when they get breast cancer are around 65 plus or minus. So, when women get breast cancer around that age; we consider that a pretty typical age to get breast cancer. If women get breast cancer in their 30s or 40s or sometimes 50s and if they have – if there are certain characteristics of the actual cancer that they get; then that may increase our suspicion that it may actually run in the family or be genetic. But still, most people who get breast cancer do not have a family history.
Host: Let’s talk about the screening itself. So, let’s say I go in or my wife goes in to get the screening; is it called a mammogram? Are there other options to get screened?
Dr. Mitchell: Good question. It is called a mammogram. The gold standard for breast screening in the US and throughout the world is the mammogram. Mammograms pick up the majority of breast cancers and a mammogram is essentially a very simple x-ray and it comes these days in what we call a 3-D mammogram. So, it’s a series of x-rays essentially that clearly visualize the entire breast. So, the radiologist would get to view a three dimensional image essentially of the entire breast.
What we used to have was just two or three very simple pictures, x-rays essentially that were just plain flat pictures to interpret the breast off of. So, now a mammogram is able to provide a lot more information than it used to. Some women will be recommended to have an additional study besides a mammogram and that would probably be an ultrasound. And sometimes that can be a breast MRI. But probably most commonly, the recommendation on top of a mammogram would be a breast ultrasound.
Host: Okay thanks for sharing the different options and it definitely sounds like there’s been a lot of innovation in this space. One of the things that I read about when doing some research on this was breast density and dense tissue and sometimes that could I think mask some of the I guess cancerous cells. But it sounds like with the combination of the ultrasound and the 3-D mammogram, it would catch that. Is that correct?
Dr. Mitchell: Sometimes the addition of an ultrasound to a mammogram or just the ultrasound itself will provide additional information and some things may only show up on an ultrasound and that’s especially helpful as you pointed out when the breasts are dense. And dense breasts – that’s a pretty normal thing, that’s not an abnormal thing. But it’s just us utilizing additional technology as you point out to try to get a better view, a better picture of the breast tissue itself.
Host: All righty and so what about self-screening, you know feeling around for lumps? I feel like and I’ve heard that best practice is that you do that every so often even if you’re below the 40 year old mark. Maybe talk a little bit about self-examination.
Dr. Mitchell: Self-examination is a good idea. And there’s really no right or wrong way to do it. So, a woman would just feel her breasts and a very simple technique is to go from the outside in all around your breast or you can go from the bottom up towards the top. Whatever method you use and the idea being that if you do it on a routine basis, let’s say maybe once a month, and if you ever notice a change in your breast like maybe you feel a lump or maybe you notice that the skin looks a little different or it looks like a bit of a rash or you have discharge coming out of your nipple; anything like that that’s new or different, that would be your clue to – if you have a breast surgeon, go visit your breast surgeon or your family practitioner or your OB-GYN and they will then do a clinical breast exam and they’ll figure out what’s going on. Usually, it will be nothing. Nothing to worry about but it’s always a good idea any change to your breast to let one of your physicians check it out and figure it out.
Host: Got it. So, yeah you talked about a few symptoms that would cause someone to go in and it get it checked out more thoroughly. But are there any other typical signs or symptoms of breast cancer that women should be aware of?
Dr. Mitchell: So, one great thing in the US is we have such a thorough well established screening program. It’s pretty much the standard of care for women to get a screening mammogram and because we have that, the majority of breast cancers here in the US are picked up way before they are palpable. They are just some tiny little cells that exist before they’ve grown into a lump that you can feel. But things to look out for or be aware of within your – you own breast exam is if you feel a lump or a bump or if maybe the skin is kind of puckered in a little bit or just looks different, maybe it looks kind of thick in one area and red or maybe your nipple looks different. Anything that looks different, is a change from whatever your normal looking breast is; that would be a good thing to get checked out. And the important thing is not to freak out over any change that you notice. Because quite often, those changes are not going to be cancer. But it’s really impossible to tell without getting it checked out. So, it’s definitely worth the doctor’s visit to go get it checked out. If it’s cancer, it gets treated and you have picked it up right away which is great. And if it’s not cancer, you find that out as well and then your mind is at ease and you don’t have to worry about it.
Host: That’s a really good way to look at it. and it never hurts to just go in and get it checked out and it sounds like with the technology that we have today, everything is very treatable, especially if we go early. In wrapping up here, I want to talk a little bit about diet and lifestyle choices. And just really asking is there anything people can do in that regard to help prevent the onset of breast cancer?
Dr. Mitchell: I wish. The general recommendations that are pretty effective for trying to decrease your risk for not only breast cancer but a number of cancers and a number of diseases like heart disease is just try to eat a well-balanced nutritious diet, high in fruits and vegetables, low in fried foods, high in good fats like avocado or salmon and exercise as well. Even exercise walking every day really adds up and goes a long way. It definitely counts. Over the years we’ve had quite a few studies that have advocated for one special diet or another or a certain number of exercises throughout the week and that information pretty much yo-yos back and forth but the bottom line that everybody finds in any research is that exercise of some type is definitely beneficial.
Host: All right Dr. Mitchell. I really appreciate that and your time today. That’s Dr. Sunny Mitchell, a Breast Surgeon from Highland Medical P.C. and the Medical Director of the Breast Center at Montefiore Nyack Hospital. Thanks for checking out this episode of Sound Advice. To make an appointment with Dr. Sunny Mitchell, please call 845-348-8507. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks and we’ll see you next time.
Prakash Chandran (Host): About one in eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. So, it’s really important to have regular screenings because early detection can help save lives. But what exactly do you need to know about these screenings and what should you do to stay healthy? Let’s talk about it with Dr. Sunny Mitchell, a Breast Surgeon from Highland Medical P.C. and the Medical Director of the Breast Center at Montefiore Nyack Hospital. This is Sound Advice, the podcast from Highland Medical P.C. I’m Prakash Chandran. So, first of all, Dr. Mitchell, tell us why it’s so important that women have regular breast screenings.
Sunny Mitchell, MD (Guest): So, regular breast screenings are used to look for breast cancer. And if breast cancer is present, and you get a regular screening; the chances are very, very high that you’ll catch it very early and therefore it will be very treatable.
Host: What age should women start doing this for themselves? Like for example, my wife is 30 years old, we just had our first baby; is this now a good time to start getting it done?
Dr. Mitchell: Congratulations. But you know for most women, the age to start screening mammograms is 40 years old. The recommendations do vary a little bit from society to academic society but there is a general consensus that age 40 for women who do not have an elevated risk or women who are not at high risk of getting breast cancer is a good age to start. Women who do have what we consider increased risk or high risk for breast cancer; maybe they have family members with breast cancer, or they are gene positive for genes that increase the risk of breast cancer or maybe even may have had a history of breast cancer or a couple of other factors; those women we would have start earlier than 40.
Host: Got it. So, if for example, my mother-in-law did have breast cancer, so because there’s a history in the family; then that would make my wife on the high risk spectrum. Is that correct?
Dr. Mitchell: You know not necessarily. It may place her at higher risk. So, the things that we look at – so we would look at for example, your mother-in-law’s age. Most women when they get breast cancer are around 65 plus or minus. So, when women get breast cancer around that age; we consider that a pretty typical age to get breast cancer. If women get breast cancer in their 30s or 40s or sometimes 50s and if they have – if there are certain characteristics of the actual cancer that they get; then that may increase our suspicion that it may actually run in the family or be genetic. But still, most people who get breast cancer do not have a family history.
Host: Let’s talk about the screening itself. So, let’s say I go in or my wife goes in to get the screening; is it called a mammogram? Are there other options to get screened?
Dr. Mitchell: Good question. It is called a mammogram. The gold standard for breast screening in the US and throughout the world is the mammogram. Mammograms pick up the majority of breast cancers and a mammogram is essentially a very simple x-ray and it comes these days in what we call a 3-D mammogram. So, it’s a series of x-rays essentially that clearly visualize the entire breast. So, the radiologist would get to view a three dimensional image essentially of the entire breast.
What we used to have was just two or three very simple pictures, x-rays essentially that were just plain flat pictures to interpret the breast off of. So, now a mammogram is able to provide a lot more information than it used to. Some women will be recommended to have an additional study besides a mammogram and that would probably be an ultrasound. And sometimes that can be a breast MRI. But probably most commonly, the recommendation on top of a mammogram would be a breast ultrasound.
Host: Okay thanks for sharing the different options and it definitely sounds like there’s been a lot of innovation in this space. One of the things that I read about when doing some research on this was breast density and dense tissue and sometimes that could I think mask some of the I guess cancerous cells. But it sounds like with the combination of the ultrasound and the 3-D mammogram, it would catch that. Is that correct?
Dr. Mitchell: Sometimes the addition of an ultrasound to a mammogram or just the ultrasound itself will provide additional information and some things may only show up on an ultrasound and that’s especially helpful as you pointed out when the breasts are dense. And dense breasts – that’s a pretty normal thing, that’s not an abnormal thing. But it’s just us utilizing additional technology as you point out to try to get a better view, a better picture of the breast tissue itself.
Host: All righty and so what about self-screening, you know feeling around for lumps? I feel like and I’ve heard that best practice is that you do that every so often even if you’re below the 40 year old mark. Maybe talk a little bit about self-examination.
Dr. Mitchell: Self-examination is a good idea. And there’s really no right or wrong way to do it. So, a woman would just feel her breasts and a very simple technique is to go from the outside in all around your breast or you can go from the bottom up towards the top. Whatever method you use and the idea being that if you do it on a routine basis, let’s say maybe once a month, and if you ever notice a change in your breast like maybe you feel a lump or maybe you notice that the skin looks a little different or it looks like a bit of a rash or you have discharge coming out of your nipple; anything like that that’s new or different, that would be your clue to – if you have a breast surgeon, go visit your breast surgeon or your family practitioner or your OB-GYN and they will then do a clinical breast exam and they’ll figure out what’s going on. Usually, it will be nothing. Nothing to worry about but it’s always a good idea any change to your breast to let one of your physicians check it out and figure it out.
Host: Got it. So, yeah you talked about a few symptoms that would cause someone to go in and it get it checked out more thoroughly. But are there any other typical signs or symptoms of breast cancer that women should be aware of?
Dr. Mitchell: So, one great thing in the US is we have such a thorough well established screening program. It’s pretty much the standard of care for women to get a screening mammogram and because we have that, the majority of breast cancers here in the US are picked up way before they are palpable. They are just some tiny little cells that exist before they’ve grown into a lump that you can feel. But things to look out for or be aware of within your – you own breast exam is if you feel a lump or a bump or if maybe the skin is kind of puckered in a little bit or just looks different, maybe it looks kind of thick in one area and red or maybe your nipple looks different. Anything that looks different, is a change from whatever your normal looking breast is; that would be a good thing to get checked out. And the important thing is not to freak out over any change that you notice. Because quite often, those changes are not going to be cancer. But it’s really impossible to tell without getting it checked out. So, it’s definitely worth the doctor’s visit to go get it checked out. If it’s cancer, it gets treated and you have picked it up right away which is great. And if it’s not cancer, you find that out as well and then your mind is at ease and you don’t have to worry about it.
Host: That’s a really good way to look at it. and it never hurts to just go in and get it checked out and it sounds like with the technology that we have today, everything is very treatable, especially if we go early. In wrapping up here, I want to talk a little bit about diet and lifestyle choices. And just really asking is there anything people can do in that regard to help prevent the onset of breast cancer?
Dr. Mitchell: I wish. The general recommendations that are pretty effective for trying to decrease your risk for not only breast cancer but a number of cancers and a number of diseases like heart disease is just try to eat a well-balanced nutritious diet, high in fruits and vegetables, low in fried foods, high in good fats like avocado or salmon and exercise as well. Even exercise walking every day really adds up and goes a long way. It definitely counts. Over the years we’ve had quite a few studies that have advocated for one special diet or another or a certain number of exercises throughout the week and that information pretty much yo-yos back and forth but the bottom line that everybody finds in any research is that exercise of some type is definitely beneficial.
Host: All right Dr. Mitchell. I really appreciate that and your time today. That’s Dr. Sunny Mitchell, a Breast Surgeon from Highland Medical P.C. and the Medical Director of the Breast Center at Montefiore Nyack Hospital. Thanks for checking out this episode of Sound Advice. To make an appointment with Dr. Sunny Mitchell, please call 845-348-8507. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks and we’ll see you next time.
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