Breast Cancer awareness: Education Saves Lives

By: Tessa Piccolo

In the United States alone, 1 in 8 women will get diagnosed with breast cancer in their lives and 1 in 36 will die from that cancer. Think of all the girls and women in your life. Your mom, grandma, aunts, sisters, cousins, friends. Chances are you would need at least two hands to count them all. If that is the case, then the unfortunate truth is that of that group of women, at least one of them will develop breast cancer. In 2024 alone, 310,720 new breast cancer diagnoses will be made and 42,250 women will die of breast cancer making it one of the most common form of cancer amongst women, second only to skin cancer. 

While all of these numbers sound (rightfully) terrifying, their purpose is not to scare you, but to make you aware of the very real physical risks that us women face, and the necessary steps that we can take to stay healthy. Throughout history and into the modern day, issues related to women's health have been dismissed and belittled with serious physical symptoms often misdiagnosed as emotional or psychological conditions. This has resulted in huge discrepancies regarding research and knowledge about diseases and conditions which target women. For BIPOC women, who face systemic racism and bias in the healthcare system, this inequality is even more apparent. Lack of diversity in medical and drug trials as well as persisting myths regarding racially differentiated pain tolerance have created a severe disparity in the quality of care received by women of colour compared to white women.

These reasons make it crucial for you to take a serious interest in your health. The more you know, the better you can advocate for yourself when the time comes.

Here’s some important point, and perhaps life-saving points to remember regarding breast cancer: 

1. Breast cancer is not just an “old woman's disease"

One of the most common misconceptions about breast cancer is that you will only develop it at an older age. While it is true that your risk is heightened with age, young women are still susceptible to the disease, indeed in the past five years, experts have observed an increase in the number of women under the age of 40 diagnosed with breast cancer. This is especially important to note because this same category of younger women are nearly 40% more likely to die, mostly a result of delayed diagnosis. While most doctors won’t send you for mammograms before the age of 50, petitioning for mammograms earlier (especially if you have a family history of breast cancer) can often be the difference between life and death.

2. Breast cancer mortality rates reveal deep racial disparities

This is a sad truth which highlights the racial prejudice inherent to the healthcare system. While white and Black women see similar rates of diagnosis of breast cancer (with some studies finding that Black women actually face slightly lower rates of breast cancer), Black women face a 38% higher chance of dying from the disease. While some factors behind this mortality gap have been identified as lifestyle or socioeconomic, the poor level of care by medical professionals and institutions experienced by Black women has resulted in lower chances of timely diagnoses and has made the breast cancer mortality rate higher for them than any other racial group.

This experience is shared by Indigenous women in America who also face extreme prejudice in the healthcare system which has resulted in a 6% higher mortality rate despite having a 10% lower rate of incidence.

3.Breast cancer technically doesn’t kill you 

At face value, this fact can seem misleading. While breast cancer is dangerous, it is only once it has metastasized (spread to other areas and organs of your body) that it becomes deadly. This process occurs when the cancer is carried through blood or the lymph node system (glands primarily located around your armpits) from the breasts to parts such as your liver, bones, lungs, liver, and brain where it is much more difficult to treat. Catching breast cancer early is therefore absolutely crucial to improving your chances of survival. 

4. Sometimes a breast cancer diagnosis starts with yourself

If you have never heard the term “7 Ps” of self-examination, now is the time to familiarize yourself with them. The 7 Ps stands for: positions, perimeter, palpation, pressure, pattern, practice, and planning what to do if a change is found in the breast tissue. This sequence of steps is what you should follow when conducting a self-examination for breast cancer. As girls, we are sometimes raised to be uncomfortable touching or looking at our bodies. This is a stigma that has to be broken to save lives. If we know what our body looks and feels like, we are better equipped to observe changes and bring them to the attention of our doctors. 

5. Look to the women in your life as a guide… literally 

Researchers say that 5-10% of all cases of breast cancer are genetic. This means that the patient inherited a mutated BRCA gene– a complicated way of saying that either the BReast CAncer 1 or BReast CAncer 2 gene is damaged and can’t suppress tumour creation leading to a higher risk of developing breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer. Individuals with the BRCA mutation face a 60% chance of developing breast cancer in their lives compared to the 13% chance that women with the mutation face and they also face a higher chance of developing the cancer at a younger age. While there is no way to treat this gene mutation, being aware of it is essential. If there is a strong pattern of breast cancer amongst the women in your family, especially your first-degree relatives (mother, sisters, daughters) you can do a BCRA gene test which would identify the mutation and help you take preventative measures.