By Piper Rutherford | Staff Writer
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Health and Wellness Center offers students tips for how to check for signs of breast cancer.
Dr. Sharon Stern, Baylor’s medical director, said that while breast cancer can occur in the breast tissues of both men and women, women are far more likely to develop it.
“By the time you are 85 or 90 years old, you will know a lot of women that have had breast cancer, since it happens to one in eight women over the course of a lifetime,” Stern said. “Outside of skin cancer, this statistic makes it the most common cancer for American women.”
Stern said 62 years old is the average age for breast cancer diagnosis, and though many young women in college are healthy, it’s important that women are cognizant of their family’s health history.
“Breast cancer can run in families, and there is an increased risk if one of your first-degree relatives has had it before,” Stern said. “This can include a mother, sister or daughter.”
Another important factor to consider for heightened risks is a female’s race, according to Stern.
“While women of color, like Black women, have a similar average age of diagnosis as that of white women, Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer,” Stern said. “This is because one in five Black women are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, which deals with hormone markers and is far more difficult to treat.”
To check for signs of breast cancer, Stern recommended that women conduct a monthly self-examination test following their menstrual cycle when their breasts are less tender.
“You can do this standing up in the shower or mirror, by moving the flat parts of the tips of your fingers around in a circle, working your way up and down,” Stern said. “What you are feeling for is the feeling of a rock in the midst of the breast tissue, which is inherently lumpy like the consistency of oatmeal, so check for something that feels hard and that might be tender.”
According to Stern, another step students can take is making sure that they set up their “Well Woman” exam once a year.
“At these offices, they can order an ultrasound,” Stern said. “This X-ray is usually more accurate at seeing small cysts than mammograms are.”
Dr. Heather Clinton, Baylor staff nurse practitioner, said that if a student is unsure about whether they feel something concerning, they are always welcome to come into the Health and Wellness Center.
“Although breast cancer is very rare in the college-age population and very rarely causes death, we can conduct a clinical health exam to check and either refer students to another doctor or encourage them to go to their primary care provider if we see anything out of the ordinary,” Clinton said.
If that does happen to be the case, Clinton said it’s good to catch it early.
“When a patient is able to detect it in an early stage, they can then be sent to appropriate locations that can provide them with the help they need,” Clinton said. “Again, while our office does get the occasional student concerned about a possible detection, this is not a daily concern we see from the student population as a whole.”
