Although the rate of breast cancer for college-age women is low, doctors have been stressing the importance of breast self-exams in detecting other illnesses during October, designated National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Self-exams have been promoted mainly as a means for early detection of breast cancer. With rates in women under the age of 24 at less than 5 percent, some women do not perform self-checks, thinking they are unnecessary. But doctors say a self-exam can uncover many other conditions that are several times more likely than breast cancer in college-age women.
"There is a much higher rate of benign cysts in young women," said Dr. Kimberly Blackwell, associate professor in the division of medical oncology.
She added that there are several other conditions that can affect college women, including atypical hyperplasia, a change in either the cells lining the ducts or the glands of the breast, and scelerosing adenosis, a range of benign morphologic changes in the female breast.
"Young women who have benign breast tumors are at a slightly increased risk for having additional benign lumps in the future," said Lynette Leepack, nurse practitioner and breast health specialist at the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Center at the State University of New York at Stonybrook. Leepack added that although benign lumps can be more common, risks for breast cancer do not increase for women who experience benign tumors at a young age.
Blackwell said that practicing monthly self exams is important and stressed that it is necessary for women who have a strong family history of breast cancer to start checking right away.
She recommended that women perform self-exams seven days after their menstrual cycle because there is less tenderness in breast tissue. She said the checks are less effective when performed right before the menstrual cycle because detecting lumps is more difficult then.
The most important doctor recommendation is breast checks be done regularly. Blackwell said she tells her patients to do the self tests on the first day of each month, so it is easier to remember.
Practicing regular self-exams allows women to find benign lumps before they grow or spread in the breast. Leepack said that ignoring lumps until they get too large poses a problem because "it makes removing them more difficult, which causes more scarring and scar tissue in the breast."
According to the National Institutes of Health, only one in 10 lumps is actually breast cancer. Blackwell said that "though 90 percent of lumps aren't cancer... every new lump found must receive medical attention."
If a woman discovers a lump, Leepack said she should contact her obstetrician-gynecologist or primary care physician immediately. Blackwell said that women at Duke should contact Student Health Services as they can provide proper examination and refer women to breasts specialists.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.