We worry and fret about your children from the moment of conception until the day we die, don’t we? With breast cancer remaining the most feared disease of all women, it is no wonder that those with a significant family history fear their children will one day become a part of those scary statistics. One in eight women sometime during their life time will be diagnosed with breast cancer. For 2008, that means 250,000 women (and about 2000 men).
So are your children at risk? There is a tendency to assume that if there is any breast cancer history in the family then others in the later generations are doomed. In fact this isn’t the case. We worry far more about first degree relatives--- so in this case, YOU—than we do about grandmothers, aunts and cousins who are further generations removed. We also worry less if the previous family members were diagnosed after menopause. So having a great grandmother who died in her 70s after being diagnosed with breast cancer at 69 doesn’t really increase risk much at all and some would say the increase isn’t even measurable. However if a mother was diagnosed in her early 30s, that raises a red flag.
How worried should we be then? I’m a believer in being proactive. Know the facts and take action wherever we can. It’s the smart thing to do. We know that obesity has an association with increased risk. So feed your girls wisely. Junk food packs on pounds and pounds equals more estrogen they are storing in their bodies. Low fat diets high in green and orange veggies is best. Sure the occasional trip to her favorite fast food place is okay but it sure shouldn’t be daily. Exercise is a way to reduce risk too. Get your children away from the television and outside. I’d rather see them window shopping at the mall (walking at a steady pace) then becoming couch potatoes at young ages. Discourage smoking and drinking. Easier said than done I know but it will make a world of difference when she grows up.
If you have had breast cancer young, and perhaps have other family relatives you also have before you, then consider talking with a genetics counselor about this. There is a chance that you might carry a breast cancer gene that would increase the risk of your children. Those carrying BRCA 1 or 2 genes have a 50% chance of passing it onto the next generation. People with a BRCA gene have a 60-80% risk of getting breast cancer. Other related cancers to this gene are ovarian, melanoma, pancreatic and colo-rectal.
It’s important to keep in mind however that family history is merely one risk factor. Sadly, 70% of women diagnosed today have no known risk factors and only 12% diagnosed have a family history of breast cancer.
What does the future hold for our children? I’m feeling good about the research I see happening now that is providing more answers to understanding the biology and physiology of this disease. I’m soon to become the grandmother of a little girl, due in 7 weeks. So this issue of breast cancer for her generation and specifically for her breasts is truly playing on my mind. I was diagnosed in my 30s and then again at age 40. So how worried am I for her? Far less than I was a year ago. I truly believe that her generation will be the group that sees this disease listed in medical books where polio is today—under cured diseased. And when she grows up and has her own family, we can expect her children to receive a breast cancer vaccine, just like kids do today for other diseases. In the meantime, encourage healthy lifestyle habits, especially among your teens. Talk openly about this disease and keep it out of the closet. Take her bra shopping followed by a trip to the eatery for a fruit smoothy and ask her what her knowledge is of breast cancer. |
