To Mammo or Not To Mammo; That’s the Question

Most of the women who undergo routine mammogram screenings for breast cancer will never actually derive any real benefit from the radioactive procedure, but the majority of those who end up testing positive for tumors as a result of mammography will undergo needless treatments for malignancies that never would have led to any health problems.
These unsettling findings from a review recently published in the journal, The Lancet, found that for every woman whose life is supposedly saved as a result of early detection, three others undergo invasive surgery, toxic chemotherapy, or immune-destroying radiation treatments for benign tumors that never would have resulted in fatality.
This shocking information represents one more setback for the practice of mammography, which is still touted by the mainstream medical system as the premier method by which women have the best chance of not dying from breast cancer.  Not only are women not being told about the significant radaioactive risks associatied with getting mammograms, but they are also not being told that the procedure often detects noncancerous tumors.
According to the review of the study done in the U.K., 1,307 women avoid dying from breast cancer every single year in the U.K. as a result of being screened for breast cancer.  But another 3,971 women every year also end up opting for unnecessary, expensive, and highly-toxic treatment procedures for benign tumors as a result of mammography, which causes many of them to suffer irreparable damage to their immune health.
According to a similar study released early this year from Norway, as many as 25 percent of the breast cancers detected by mammography would have never even caused any health problems during the women’s lifetimes.  At the same time, mammography alsofails to detect as many as 10% of harmful breast turmors, indicating that it is a highly unreliable, and very toxic, breast cancer detection method that needs to be effectively phased out of mainstream use.
“Once you’ve decided to undergo mammography screening, you also have to deal with the consequences that you might be over-diagnosed,” says Dr. Metter Kalager, a breast surgeon at Telemark Hospital in Norway about the widespread problem of breast cancer over-diagnosis. “By then, I think, it’s too late. You have to get treated.”
The truth is that we’ve exaggerated the benefits of screening and we’ve ignored the harms.  Mammography helps some people but it leads others to be treated unnecessarily.

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• Breast Cancer
• My Breast Cancer Journey Blog

June 8, 2013

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Inflammatory breast cancer tends to be diagnosed at younger ages when compared to other cancers; and it’s more common and diagnosed at younger ages in African-American women than in white women.  The median age at diagnosis in African-American women is 54 years, compared with a median age of 58 years in white women.  It’s also  more common in overweight women than in women of normal weight.
Often times, treatments such as tamoxifen aren’t effective against inflammatory breast tumors because they are hormone receptor negative.   Inflammatory breast cancer can strike men as well as women, but usually it strikes at an older age.    Remember that inflammatory breast cancer is a very rare, but aggressive type of cancer and it’s important to always notice any changes in your breast whether you’re a male or female.  Because this disease is so relatively rare, people with inflammatory breast cancer are encouraged to enroll in clinical trials in which new treatments are being tested simply to take any advantage such medicine or techniques may offer in conjunction with those currently in use.   This disease accounts for only one to five percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in the United States.  Typically there’s no lump to be felt, and the disease escapes diagnosis until it has progressed to stage III or IV, at which point it has already spread only to nearby lymph nodes, stage III,---or to other tissues as well, stage IV.
Inflammatory breast cancer usually progresses rapidly, often in a matter of weeks or months.  Symptoms include swelling and redness that affect a third or more of the breast.  The skin of the breast may also appear pink, reddish purple, or bruised.  In addition, the skin may have ridges or appear pitted, like the skin of an orange.  These symptoms are caused by the buildup of lymph fluid  in the skin of the breast.   This fluid buildup occurs because cancer cells have blocked lymph vessels in the skin, preventing the normal flow of lymph through the tissue.  Sometimes, the breast may contain a solid tumor that can be felt during a physical exam, but, more often, a tumor cannot be felt.
Other symptoms include a rapid increase in breast size; sensations of heaviness, burning, or tenderness in the breast, or a nipple that is inverted.   Swollen lymph nodes may also be present under the arm, near the collarbone, or in both places.
Inflammatory breast cancer can be difficult to diagnose.  Often, there is no lump that can be felt during a physical exam or seen in a screening mammogram.  In addition, most women diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer have dense breast tissue, which makes cancer detection in a screening mammogram more difficult.   Also, because inflammatory breast cancer is so aggressive, it can arise between scheduled screening mammograms and progress quickly. The symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer may be mistaken for those of mastitis or another form of locally advanced breast cancer.
There are published guidelines to help you choose the best course of treatment and how the disease is diagnosed.