Military Officer - June 2006 - (Page 58)

she did not need chemotherapy. In December 2005, Repper celebrated her seventh year as a breast cancer survivor. The experience, she says, has made her an advocate of early baseline screenings. “If my doctor’s ofﬁce had not suggested early baseline pictures, my results could have been very different,” Repper notes. “I have been very vocal with my women friends in encouraging them to get mammograms.” An estimated 200,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the United States every year. But thanks to ongoing medical advances, the disease is being treated earlier and better than ever before, doctors report. Risk factors A variety of factors can increase a woman’s breast cancer risk, notes Dr. Marisa Weiss, a breast cancer The Male Side of Breast Cancer Breast cancer is commonly thought of as a disease that afflicts only women. But breast cancer also can develop in men and yield the same tragic results if not detected early and treated aggressively. “Breast cancer in men is not as rare as you might think,” observes physician Sharon Giordano, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “In the United States, there are approximately 1,500 new cases each year and 400 to 500 deaths.” According to Giordano, the most common symptoms of breast cancer in men are a painless knot under the nipple and noticeable changes in the skin over the lump. Less common but more significant is bleeding from the nipple. Men and women share many of the same risk factors for breast cancer, including a family history. 58 MILITARY OFFICER JUNE 2006 oncologist in Philadelphia and president and founder of www.breastcancer.org. One of the biggest factors is age — the older a woman becomes, the greater her risk of developing the disease. From birth through age 39, a woman’s statistical risk is approximately 1 in 231. From ages 40-59, the chance is 1 in 25. And from age 60 through 79, it’s 1 in 15. Other risk factors include: ■ Family history. A strong family history of breast cancer may be a result of an inherited gene abnormality. Most inherited cases of breast cancer are associated with two speciﬁc genes: BRCA–1 and BRCA–2. ■ Menstrual history. The early onset of menstruation and the late onset of menopause are both believed to increase a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer because they add years of exposure to estrogen and other cancerstimulating hormones, Weiss notes. ■ Late pregnancy. Women who have their ﬁrst full-term pregnancy after age 30 or who never become pregnant are at higher risk for breast cancer than those who give birth earlier in life. ■ Race. After age 40, breast cancer is more common among white women than black, Asian, or Latina women. However, among women 40 and younger, black women have the highest risk, Weiss says. ■ Breast density. Research has shown that women with “dense” breasts (i.e., whose breasts contain less fat tissue) are more likely to develop breast cancer than women with less dense breasts. According to Dr. Sharon Giordano, one of the nation’s leading experts on breast cancer, “These are all factors that women cannot prevent. The one potentially preventable risk factor would be receiving hormone re- A chromosomal abnormality called Klinefelter’s Syndrome and prior exposure to radiation (more than just a simple X-ray) also can substantially increase a man’s risk of the disease, warns Giordano. Treatment is usually the same as for women and may include surgery, chemotherapy, and even hormone therapy as needed. “Men shouldn’t just dismiss abnormalities in their breasts,” Giordano says. “They should examine their breasts on a regular basis, just as women are encouraged to do, and consult their doctor immediately if they detect swelling or other changes, especially if it’s only in one breast.” http://www.breastcancer.org

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Military Officer - June 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities MOAA Member Services Living Well 5 Foods for Life The Kindest Cut Winning the Battle Cover Story: Choppers Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - June 2006

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