The 10 Spot: Breast Cancer Facts from Sacramento Region Experts
Sep 27, 2016 02:09PM ● By Megan Wiskus
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In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we asked local medical experts—Joelle Jakobsen, MD, FACS, general surgeon and breast cancer specialist for Mercy Medical Group, a service of Dignity Health Medical Foundation; Dan Herron, MD, director of Women’s Imaging at Mercy Imaging Center; and Candice Sauder, MD, a breast cancer surgeon at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center—to share 10 lesser-known facts about the disease.
1. The majority (75 percent) of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of it.
2. Women with dense breasts have a higher chance of getting the disease, and their cancer may not be visible on a mammogram.
3. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, with a mean age of 61 at diagnosis.
4. There’s no evidence that hair dye or antiperspirant increase your risk.
5. Growing evidence suggests that women who get regular physical activity have a 10-25-percent lower risk. Avoiding weight gain and obesity and minimizing alcohol intake may also help to reduce one’s risk.
6. Research shows—and all the national health organizations agree—that the most lives will be saved if women begin mammogram screening at age 40 and have one each year.
7. Recent research indicates that long-term, heavy smoking may increase breast cancer risk, particularly among women who start smoking before their first pregnancy.
8. For women at 20 years of age, the risk is 1 in 1,674. At 30, it’s 1 in 225, increasing to 1 in 69 at age 40, 1 in 44 at age 50, 1 in 29 at age 60, and 1 in 26 at age 70.
9. Breast cancer typically produces no symptoms.
10. Although there is a small amount of radiation with a mammogram, many women get exposed to the same amount each year walking around from environmental radiation.