It is important to not be afraid of the diagnosis or to feel discouraged to take action. To ensure the best possible outcome, the disease should be treated in a timely manner. Being very common, breast cancer is actively studied, to ensure that new ways to diagnose and treat the disease are available. Learn more about the preventive measures for breast cancer, to be ready to fight disease now and in the future.
Prophylaxis - how to assess your breast health
To diagnose and treat breast cancer successfully, one should be aware of breast health and take some preventive measures. The benefit of prophylactic check-ups is undoubted - regular assessment of breast health for women in ages of 40 to 74 decreases breast cancer mortality by 40%I.3
Below You can read more about preventive measures that do not take a lot of time or resources.
Visit to the gynecologist – including breast examination
Who should go: Every woman that has reached puberty, should go to the gynecologist at least once a year even without the presence of any symptoms or complaints. During your visit, breast health should be assessed as well. Don’t be shy to remind your doctor about it in case the specialist has forgotten to do so!
How often: Once a year, if there are no complaints or symptoms present.
Monthly self-examinations of the breast
Who should do: Breast examinations by various methods must be performed by every woman that has reached puberty, to ensure that she keeps track of changes in breast health even between the visits to the doctor
How often: Once a month
“Skrinings.lv” offers a helpful self-examination diary, that will help You see the dynamics of the health of your breasts.
Lifestyle improvements
Who should do: To lessen the chances of having breast cancer, it is important to know your personal risk factors, and how they can be managed by improving lifestyle habits. The test developed by “Skrinings.lv” takes knowledge from more than 150 studies and publications, and helps every woman assess her personal breast cancer risk factors.
How often: We recommend retaking the test once a year, to see how your risk factors change.
State-funded breast cancer screening
Who should go: Every woman in Latvia that has reached the age of 50 years once in two years receives an invitation to take part in a breast cancer screening program, by mammography method. You can have such an examination after receiving an invitation letter from the National Health Service (in case You have not received or lost the invitation, ask your family doctor about a new one). Learn more about it on the e-veseliba.lv page.
How often: Once in two years.
Invitation letters are received at the age of 50, 52, 54, 56, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68 years.
Genetic testing
Who should go: Women, who have first-degree relatives or multiple people in the family diagnosed with breast cancer, can be referred to genetic testing by her gynecologist, oncologist, or geneticist.
How often: Once in a lifetime.
In case the test shows some alterations in the genome, the genetic assessment would be recommended to your relatives.
Diagnosis - what do your results mean?
By taking part in prophylactic measures You increase the chance to notice the disease early. Breast cancer is fairly common, but don’t let that scare you - the disease is being treated successfully, especially if diagnosed early. It is also important to know that not all breast tumors are malignant. Below you can read more about the most common tumor types.
Non-invasive tumors
DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ*)
Tumor, that develops in the milk ducts of the breast, but never goes outside their bounds. Due to that, tumor cells do not reach the lymphatic and blood vessels, which is a usual path of cancer dissemination. The tumor can develop at any age but mostly occurs after the age of 50. Ductal carcinoma is non-invasive but indicates a higher risk of having more aggressive form in the future.
LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ*)
Non-invasive formation in breast tissue, that does not disseminate beyond the initial localization, and similar to ductal carcinoma is associated with a higher risk of malignant tumor formation. Lobular carcinoma is hard to diagnose, and it is usually asymptomatic. Regular check-ups are the main tool in the early diagnosis of this type of tumor.
Medical assessment for non-invasive tumors: For those tumors, the main goal is to lessen the risk of developing an aggressive form of cancer, by assessing the tumor regularly.
If there are findings that indicated possible non-invasive tumor, You should undergo 3-step examination:
- Consultation with Your doctor, where symptoms and risk factors will be evaluated, and breasts will be examined.
- Mammography for both breasts.
- Breast tissue biopsy, where tissue sample will be taken to be evaluated by a specialist, to see if the tumor cells are malignant and invasive.
Invasive tumors
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
The most common type of breast cancer. It forms in the milk ducts of the breast, and from there disseminates through fatty tissue and blood and lymphatic vessels.
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
The tumor that forms in breast lobules and invades surrounding tissue. It can be multifocal invading both breasts at the same time. This tumor is hard to diagnose and usually, it gets noticed on latter stages of the disease.
Medical assessment for invasive tumors:
If there is a suspicion that You might have an invasive tumor, You will be referred to multiple examinations:
- Examination by gynecologist/breast specialist and blood test
- Mammography of both breasts
- Breast tissue biopsy, to assess the type of the tumor
- Determining tumor receptor status
- Possibly consultation with a geneticist.
*in situ (latin) - tumor, that does not expand outside the initial localization.
Receptor status - what is needed to make therapy more effective
To determine the best treatment, multiple factors must be evaluated: tumor stage, type, and receptor status. It varies for each tumor and must be assessed in every patient.
Hormone receptors - estrogen (ER) and/or progesterone (PgR) receptors, can be found both in healthy breasts and in tumor tissue. Before the beginning of the treatment, it is important to know how many of the receptors are present in tumor tissue. If there is a high amount of hormone receptors, the tumor is called ER and/or PgR positive. Those types of tumors are treated very effectively by the medication that decreases the hormone level in the body.
Similar to hormone receptors, on the tumor surface can be found growth factor HER2 receptor. Tumor with the high count of those receptors develop at higher speed and are more invasive, which impacts the treatment process and prognosis.
1 WHO data and Statistics
2 Breast Cancer, Five-Year Relative Survival by Stage, Women (Aged 15-99 Years), Former Anglia Cancer Network
3 Seely JM, Alhassan T. Screening for breast cancer in 2018 what should we be doing today?. Curr Oncol. 2018;25(Suppl 1):S115-S124.
4 Klīniskās vadlīnijas „Krūts vēža (C50, D05) diagnostika, stadijas noteikšana, ārstēšana un novērošana”