Exams a Must for Detecting Breast Cancer

Do it in the shower. Do it while getting ready for bed. Just do it once a month.  Get familiar with your breasts. Look for lumps, changes in size, shape or feel and to see if there is any fluid.

All women should know their breasts and surrounding areas so they can be aware of changes, the American Cancer Society recommends.

“I encourage all of you to become an expert about the way your breasts look and feel so you can detect any subtle changes. After all, it’s our body and we are the ones who have to live with whatever goes wrong with it,” said Jennie Yoon Buchanan, Medical Director of Women’s Imaging Services at Florida Hospitals.

It’s even more important that women in their 20s see a doctor for a Clinical Breast Exam every three years—and once a year after turning 40. Most doctors recommend annual mammograms for women 40 and older. Higher risk men and women should see their doctors more often.

“Many breast cancers will be found in women who never felt a lump, because on average, mammography will detect about 80 to 90 percent of the breast cancers in women without symptoms,” said Kristina Thomson, executive vice president, interim, for the American Cancer Society of New York and New Jersey.

“In New York City, more than 5,100 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year,” she said. In New York State, experts predict 15,570 new cases of breast cancer to be diagnosed this year.

On the East End, Jane Edelman, a certified breast care nurse and an oncology nurse at the Ellen Hermansen Breast Center at , knows first hand the importance of self-checks.

While living in Boston 13 years ago, she found a lump. It turned out to be cancerous.

Consistently checking your breasts, roughly five days after the cessation of menstruation, is the key, she said. "For the survivors, you'd be hard pressed to tell them otherwise."

Still, Edelman, who now lives in Wainscott, said she finds a lot of women shy away from doing self-checks out of fear. "They are too scared they are going to find something," she said.

Edelman tries to convey to them that they are not necessarily on "a cancer hunt," but rather doing the checks to find their baseline. "By knowing your own breasts, you'll know if something's new or something changes."

Everyone's breasts are different; some are naturally fatty or lumpy, she said. It's important, she said, to know the red flags, such as swelling, warmth, redness, changes in shape or size, dimpling or puckering of the skin, having an itchy rash that doesn't go away, discharge at the nipple.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the idea is to educate women and men and to raise money for the cure. Sometimes women are afraid to go see their doctors, but this is the time to do it. Grab a friend and make appointments.

The American Cancer Society works closely with health departments and health care systems to provide free mammograms. Call 1-800-227-2345 for more information.

Developments in the medical field include diagnostic innovations, such as those found at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The hospital is working on more early-detection procedures that are less invasive.

“Improvements in detection, as well as insights into surgical treatment options and their outcomes, have increasingly led to longer, improved lives for women with breast cancer,” said Dr. Andrew Seidman, who practices in New York and is part of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.