Breast Cancer Myths

Mammograms Prevent Breast Cancer

Unfortunately, mammograms can’t keep cancer from forming. They are however your best tool for detecting cancer in its earliest stages, making it a necessity for all women, young and old, in the fight against this disease.

You Only Have To Worry About Breast Cancer if it's in Your Family History

Only about 10% of breast cancers are inherited, so regular testing is still a vital part of staying cancer-free. If you are among the 5 to 10% of women with an inherited breast cancer gene mutation, your risk is 40 to 80% higher than someone without it, but you are by no means guaranteed to develop breast cancer, and should be all the more vigilant in being tested. If you are not sure whether or not you carry the gene mutation, you can visit the National Society of Genetic Counselors for more information.

Birth Control Pills Cause Breast Cancer

Not true. Although higher-dose contraceptive pills used in the past were associated with a small increased risk, today’s birth control pills use a lower dose of estrogen and progesterone and may actually provide some protection against some types of cancer.

A Breast Cancer Diagnosis is an Automatic Death Sentence

Absolutely untrue! Fully 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no signs of metastases (no cancer has spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes). Of those women diagnosed, 80% live at least five years, most longer, and many much longer. Even women with signs of metastases can live a long time. And with promising treatment breakthroughs becoming available every day, those odds keep increasing.

You'll Need a Mastectomy

Most women diagnosed today can opt for a much less invasive procedure called a lumpectomy. This treatment calls for the removal of the affected tissue only, and, doctors say, when paired with radiation the outcome can be as successful as a mastectomy.