Is it possible that not all breast cancer is bad news?
Yes, it’s true.
Many women are overdiagnosed and treated for breast cancer that would never cause a problem for them throughout their entire lives if left alone according to a recent article published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Associate Professor Robin Bell of Monash University in Australia, says:
“Overdiagnosis amounts to women having a small, slow-growing cancer being diagnosed and treated, where in her lifetime that cancer may not have required treatment.”
Professor Bell is calling for a more balanced approach to breast cancer screening which fully informs women of the harm of breast cancer screening/treatment versus the very small or negligible benefits of treatment for such slow growing, nonlifethreatening breast cancers.
A 2010 study found that for every 2000 women screened over a 10 year period, only one woman would have her life prolonged as a result of the screenings yet 10 women would be treated unnecessarily.
The results of this study certainly put in the spotlight whether mammography has any benefit whatsoever particularly given that the radiation exposing screening method causes breast cancer itself!
They certainly don’t seem like very appealing odds to me!
As a middle aged woman who has never had a mammogram nor plans to ever have one (following in the footsteps of my 86 year old mother who has refused them all her life), this study adds further evidence of the wisdom of such an out of the box decision.
It would behoove women given the dire diagnosis of breast cancer to delve into whether their breast cancer really and truly requires treatment or would in fact be better left alone. At the very least, a second or even a third opinion would seem warranted.
Sometimes bad news might not really be bad news after all.
UPDATE: A far better way to screen safely for breast cancer and avoid the misdiagnosis potential of mammograms is to get annual breast ultrasound screening. How to do this without a prescription and the 7 benefits to health in doing so are provided in the linked article. Breast thermography is another safe, effective, no radiation tool for cancer screening that does not result in overtreatment or misdiagnosis.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources and More Information
Benefits of Cancer Screening Exaggerated
Women Overdiagnosed with Breast Cancer
170 Scientific Studies Confirm the Dangers of Soy
The Dangers of Estrogenic Foods, Herbs and Supplements to Breast Health
Komen (Not) for the Cure: The Complete and Utter Pinkwashing of America
Thermography: A Perfect Alternative to Cancer Causing Mammograms?
Why Even Organic Soy Formula is so Dangerous for Babies
How the Birth Control Pill Can Harm Your Future Child’s Health
Cancer remedy can also be essential simply because cancerous development in eyes can instigate cell abnormality in other regions like head and neck areas, blood cells, lymph nodes etc. Cancer treatments are of various kinds and one must seek the advice of a doctor before opting for 1.
Lynda I believe every case is different and no one should be dishing out advice as to whether or a person who finds a lump should have a mammogram or any other scan.
The point that should be made is that mammograms etc…..should not be performed just because a person turns a particular age and the truth is they seldom find cancer. My daughter began having lumps under her armpit around age 20 and the mammo, ultra-sounds should nothing……..it was not until it spread and the tumors collapsed her spinal column was it discovered via breast biopsy. I have a friend who suffered with stomach pain for 6 years and had ever test known to man and was told he did not have cancer …. it took 6 years before they found it.
When my daughter was sick there were people who tried dishing out advice and I told them to save me their expertise, every case is different…….and it is up to the patient what they do or do not want to do……………..I can tell you this the day I found out my 24 year old daughter was dying I ran to the phone called my lawyer and by the end of the day he was at the hospital with a living will, a health care proxy and a power of attorney document that my daughter and I filled out together and signed. No one was telling her what she wanted, no one was using my daughter as a science experiment………….I took her home, kept her comfortable, and we spent every minute together for the last 6 months of her life. She never complained, she smiled, and she accepted that she was dying and going to heaven to be with her baby girl that cancer stole from her.
I had breast cancer some 18 years ago and went the traditional route as I knew no better. I had found the 5cms lump myself but was still subjected to several mammograms to confirm the diagnosis. I had a lumpectomy and radiation therapy but not chemo. I must say the hype about breast cancer is very overrated. I was not at all sick throughout and it had not metastised. I truly believe if it had been left alone it would have disappeared by itself and I would have been perfectly healthy. The best part was that it put my on the journey to healthy living and for that I’m grateful. I have been checked out once in that 18 years with an ultra sound and would never, ever go for a mammogram – such a primitive and ignorant test.
This book may interest some of you who have commented here:
“Pink Ribbon Blues”
I just discovered it today. I believe it is about how we are negatively impacting ourselves by bringing so much consciousness to breast cancer…