Breast cancer: age, methods… Answers to your questions about screening – actu.fr

With on average 54,000 new cases each year and 11,900 deaths, breast cancer is, in France, the most common female cancer.

He can touch any woman, sometimes men (1%), and at any age, although “less than 10% of breast cancers occur before the age of 40”, according to data from the League Against Cancer.

So in this month ofPink October, a national campaign to raise awareness of screening breast cancer and fundraising for research, here are some answers to your questions.

How often should I see a doctor?

The first rule to follow to prevent cancer (including other types of cancer) is to be followed by a health professional: a general practitioner, a gynecologist or a midwife.

As for the frequency of visits, it varies according to the age of the women: before the age of 50, they are rarely concerned by screening (see below).

Beyond this age, “for better follow-up, we advise them to get examined once a year“, Explains Emmanuel Ricard, delegate for prevention and promotion of screening with the League against cancer.

During this clinical examination, the doctor proceeds to palpation, to check for possible symptoms. “It can be a lump, pain in the breasts, a deformation of the nipple, but also an orange peel effect (such as deep points, hollowed out), lymph nodes under the armpit, the collarbone or even a discharge. by the nipple, ”explains Emmanuel Ricard.

Do-it-yourself palpation, is it really reliable?

Yes and no. Before embarking onself-examination, it is better “to let the doctor do a palpation so that he shows the person how to do it”.

Because this process cannot be invented : there is a way of doing things, different gestures to apply “according to the size of the breasts”.

By learning it from a doctor, the person can, if necessary, be corrected. It opens up a dialogue: to talk about it is also to know if we are doing well, if we are pressing in the right place.

In addition to this follow-up, women can turn to associations or even from applications. In October 2020, the association Keep a breast has thus created one to educate women for free on breast self-examination..

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At what age should you have your first mammogram?

If palpation is to be done from an early age, mammograms (which are x-rays of the breast taken in a radiology office or in the radiology department of a clinic or hospital), they do not intervene. not before 50 years old. ” It is estimated the benefit risks 50 to 74 years, notes Emmanuel Ricard, because we have more cancers after menopause. That does not mean that after 74 years you should stop being tested, but we do not consider that there is any point in “bothering” people if they do not have risk factors. “

Because it should be noted that the breast x-rays are not really pleasant: during this examination, the breast is indeed spread and compressed between two plates for a few seconds.

All the more so a mammogram is, paradoxically, not without risk for health, since the body is exposed, in low doses, to X-rays.

Irradiation can be a risk factor for cancer. A study showed it: we increased the number of mammograms in some women, and in the end, we realized that they developed more cancers.

Mammogram every two years is therefore recommended from the age of 50 or earlier on an individual basis when a woman presents particular risk factors (notably personal and family history).

I have a family history, do I need more monitoring?

First of all, it is imperative to inform your doctor, gynecologist or midwife, who will note this information in the medical file.

Then, “of specialized tests, blood tests with a genetic index, should be done if the person has in his family – his mother, his sister, his daughter, his grandmother, his aunt, his niece – cases of breast cancer, but also of ovary and pancreas, ”adds Emmanuel Ricard.

As for the medical follow-up, it remains the same (one visit per year), unless otherwise indicated by the doctor.

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