Women's Health

 

Breast Care

Why You Shouldn’t Be A Breast Phobic

You may have read headlines that say your lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 8. Sound scary? Even worthy of a good phobia? Well, no…not really. Not if you understand some key facts.

Lifetime Risk Isn’t Your Risk Today

Lifetime risk is vastly different than age-specific risk. Meaning that between the ages of 30 to 40, for instance, your risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 252 (or 0.3%). Because breast cancer risk becomes greater as women age, the 1 in 8 figure simply says that a woman born today has that chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer sometime during her life. Other age-specific risk ratios are:

Age Range	Ratio	%
40 to 50	1 in 68	1.4
50 to 60	1 in 35	2.8
60 to 70	1 in 27	3.7

 

Flip The Ratios for a More Optimistic Viewpoint

If you have a lifetime risk of 1 in 8 of developing breast cancer, you also have a lifetime chance of 7 in 8 of not developing breast cancer. Or, between the ages of 30 and 40, a 251 of 252 probability of being breast cancer free.

Put It In Perspective

The 1 in 8 ratio translates to about a 13% risk. Meanwhile, a woman’s lifetime risk of developing heart disease is a whopping 1 in 3–or 32%. Plus, heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death among both women and men in the United States and a major cause of illness, disability and hospitalization.

What If You’re The 1 in 8?

Breast cancer survival rates have increased since the early 1990s, probably because of increases in breast cancer awareness and screening, changes in breast cancer risk factors and improved treatment. When detected early, cure rates are 90% and up.

Which Brings Us to Our Bottom Line

Practice healthy lifestyle behaviors. Do monthly breast self-exams. Be fanatical about making an annual appointment with your OB/GYN for a clinical breast exam. Follow his or her recommendations for getting a mammogram. Participate in worthy events to benefit breast cancer research. But, don’t allow yourself to be consumed with worry. The odds are in your favor.

Statistics are from the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Framingham Heart Study.