Breast Cancer Myths

Moderators · May 2019

Hi All, We want to turn this slideshow into a better content piece (article). Breast Cancer Myths vs. Facts

Would you share with us what you'd like to see addressed?

Thank you!

illimae · May 2019

That early detection means early stage. In my case, I was diagnosed stage IV de novo less than two weeks after finding the lump. This one is only an assumption but I think a common one.

That negative genetic testing results mean you are average risk. Family history is really important due to all the factors we don’t yet know to test for.

That it’s your fault. It is not your fault, there is risk with everything in life, don’t beat yourself up.

ksusan · May 2019

That chemo and radiation don't help, but herbs and spices do.

Beesie · May 2019

Since most breast cancers are caused by factors outside of our control - the fact that we are women, that we have estrogen running through out bodies, that we get older and our cells become more prone to failure, that we may be born with genetic mutations (yes, only about 10%) but also other factors that increase our risk of breast cancer (such as high breast density, such as body type and the age at which we start and stop menstruating, etc.) - I think the heavy focus on lifestyle and environmental factors is misleading. In fact this in itself is in some ways a myth and misconception because the truth is that even if you do everything right, you can still get breast cancer.

Another, that being diagnosed early stage means you will be fine. Unfortunately, as we know, 20%-30% of early stage patients eventually develop mets.

And another, that you are in the clear after 5 years. No, recurrences can still occur 10 or 20 year later, or even later than that.

Moderators · May 2019

Keep them coming, thank you!

SummerAngel · May 2019

One that bothers me is the opposite of Bessie's (which of course also happens). I get tired of the "it always eventually comes back" line, especially with DCIS or low-grade IDC.

Beesie · May 2019

SummerAngel, good point.

I think the general public often has the perception that early stage is 100% curable. I think it's those who have breast cancer who may believe that it always eventually comes back. So different audiences hold different misconceptions, and both need to be addressed.

I'll add another, which is that if someone is diagnosed again with breast cancer 10 or 20 years after the first diagnosis, that it means that the cancer has "come back". Sometimes that's true, but more often it's a new primary. The myth that too many women believe that they can only be diagnosed one time and that it would be equivalent to being struck by lightening to be diagnosed twice. While most of us will only face one diagnosis of breast cancer during our lifetimes, being diagnosed once does not reduce the odds of being diagnosed again but actually increases the odds. I am always surprised when I see women who are surprised by a new primary diagnosis years or decades after their first diagnosis. Disappointment, yes. Frustration, yes. Anger, yes. But surprise? Breast cancer is a risk all women share, even if we've been diagnosed before. But a new primary is not a recurrence and is not the return of the original cancer.

kber · May 2019

There is no scientific link between deodorant and breast cancer.

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet

wrenn · May 2019

someone once blamed my cancer on my weight referring to the weight estrogen connection. I am triple neg so I don’t think that fits

BellasMomToo · May 2019

Early detection/early stage would only require minimal treatment.

Early detection/early stage is 100% curable.

After you are 'cured', you will return to normal, like you never had cancer.

Being underweight would prevent BC. (I know a woman who is trying to get super skinny. She told me she was doing that to prevent BC. I told her not all BCs are estrogen driven. She was floored!)

All BCs present as a lump. (The skinny woman doesn't get mammograms. She does self-exams and as long as she doesn't feel a lump, she can't have BC)

Mammograms always detect BC.

cattledoglv · May 2019

If you have a lump that hurts, it’s not breast cancer. Drs are still telling patients this quackery.

Honeybee68 · May 2019

That stage IV means it is fatal and SOON.

That mastectomy is necessary for every woman with breast cancer and it means that all the cancer is cut out and thus gone.

Honeybee68 · May 2019

Also: if you are stage IV de novo, it means you didn't get mammograms, didn't do self-exams, and just generally let things slide too long. I think this is what people want to believe so they think they are in control.

MountainMia · May 2019

I told a friend (who has a PhD in immunology) that my tumor was small but aggressive, and I had a lumpectomy. She couldn't reconcile "aggressive" with lumpectomy, and couldn't understand why I didn't have a mastectomy. Don't know if there is mythology around that, but most people probably don't know there is a range of treatments, and it isn't one-size-fits-all.

MountainMia · May 2019

This may have been said -- myth that mammograms will show if you have a tumor. Of course, they don't always. Mine wasn't visible.

ksusan · May 2019

Nor mine.

wrenn · May 2019

Before I had cancer I believed all the myths. I was educated by the women here.

voraciousreader · May 2019

mammograms save lives...yes. Population based screening mammograms save lives. HOWEVER, diagnostic mammograms save MORE lives.

And, for those with “average" risk, population based mammograms every other year save as many lives as those mammograms done annually.

Fat chance that those myths will disappear. These myths waste money and ultimately lives.

We deserve a better means of screening.....and a cure

http://time.com/4629245/who-needs-a-mammogram-for-breast-cancer-guidelines/

https://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2018-03-23/are-mammograms-overrated

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/rethinking-the-screening-mammogram-2018062814151

I will add...I am sick and tired of reading Radiologist Dr. Kopans' comments. Below the Harvard blog column he comments and vehemently disagrees with what was written. We will never put to rest the controversy of population based screening mammography and the myth that they save so many lives as long as Dr. Kopans dismisses the suggestion that there is controversy. There is controversy and patients need to be informed, Politicians also need to be informed and they need to stand up and demand answers so that taxpayer monies won't be wasted. We need GOOD research and that costs money. So let's all agree that MAYBE there should be a better way of screening...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41523-017-0035-5

“The United States is the only country where annual screening starting at age 40 is standard practice, yet our breast cancer mortality rate is no better than countries that screen less.62 Clearly, there is room for improvement. Progress will only come by investigating other possibilities. The WISDOM study will evaluate one such possibility—screening based on a woman's individual risk—opening its first site in August 2016, expanding to other sites nationally in 2017. It is certainly unlikely that all women benefit equally from screening. Investing in pragmatic studies like WISDOM allows us to learn who is at risk for what kind of breast cancer, tailor screening accordingly and build a new framework for continuous improvement.

Rah2464 · May 2019

The myth that Mammography screening and Ultrasound screening are infallible and will catch your disease, especially if you have dense breast tissue. I think it is truly important to educate everyone that it takes imaging, self exam, and perhaps self awareness of symptoms to catch this disease as early as possible. I really blindly felt that as long as I went to my yearly mammogram appointments followed by consult and exam with my breast surgeon, that I was fine. Imaging wound up failing me but my intuition about myself and how I felt helped me get diagnosed. If I had relied just on a mammogram/ultrasound I think I would have had a much different prognosis.

Traveltext · May 2019

Men don't have breasts.

Men can't get breast cancer.

farmerlucy · May 2019

“I had a mammogram, ultrasound, MRI - nothing seen. Whew I'm good." BS

“My doctor is taking care of me, I can just sit back and relax." BS again. You must be your own best advocate, check and recheck, get full copies of all reports, ask questions.

“My doctor is up to date on current practices." Stick with BCO to keep up with new treatments, trends, practices. Chances are folks here know before your doctor knows.

Moderators · May 2019

Again, keep them coming. This is very helpful! Thank you.

Anonymous · May 2019

All breast cancer treatments are the same.

I had NO idea until I was diagnosed how many types of breast cancer there are, nor did I know anything about the different types of treatment.

MountainMia · May 2019

Oceanbum, along with that, the myth that everyone has the same side effects.

Beesie · May 2019

MountainMia... and, for those who don't have breast cancer and don't have to go through any of the treatments, the myth that there are no side effects.

You are done with surgery/rads/chemo, well, then you are fine now, right? Who out there knows that so many of us, even early stagers, are on meds for 5 or 10 years, and that these meds may have significant health and quality of life side effects?

Anonymous · May 2019

Exactly! It's not a one size fits all disease. That's for sure!

LoriCA · May 2019

I can honestly say that everything I "thought" I knew about breast cancer was wrong. I've learned so much from the people here since my Dx (thank you all). So many good points made already that I wish we had a like button, but I want emphasize one thing that a few others have already mentioned - that being diagnosed Stage IV de novo means that we must have been skipping mammograms, BSEs, and obvious signs of cancer for it to get that far before we were diagnosed. The idea that it's somehow our own fault and if only we were getting mammograms when we were supposed to we could've been cured. I think it lets people believe that as long as they get their mammograms they'll be fine. I've had it said to me more times than I want to count and I try to use it as an opportunity to educate people. There are breast cancers that don't form lumps and don't show on imaging. I had never even heard of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, let alone known what to look for, until it happened to me.

bgirl · May 2019

Mammograms catch all cancers in time to be curable. They are a great screening tool and found my first BC at 46. The 2nd one, not so much.

Small means not a big deal. 5mm first time and 6mm second time. So many other factors affect the outcome, pathology, lymph node involvement, etc

No lumps either time, first deep and second behind nipple. Found a lymph node that was growing second time.

A second tumor is not always a recurrence or a death sentence.

How can your BC be different this time, aren't they all the same?

Treatment for BC is surgery and radiation and sometimes chemo .... no that is not always all!! Why are you still doing treatment more than a year later??? Even this site doesn't have place for some of the other options people are doing like Zometa infusions for prevention/treatment of bone mets.

When you finish the last treatment you are done. My cousin just started treatment and believes that when she is finished treatment everything will normal.

That the treatments can leave permanent damage to our bodies ... if so why would you do them?? We often know we are trading the possibility of a cure or extension of our life for possible other health problems/and or earlier death from heart damage etc. We are trying to live in the here and now.

Victim blaming from the you must have done something or it's genetic.

2002chickadee · May 2019

Great question! Some of these might just be crazy things people say as opposed to full blown myths, but hopefully this helps.

if your lump feels "rooted" than it's not cancer
if your breasts hurt all the time it's probably just from years of breastfeeding (this is the story I told myself because BC didn't even cross my mind and indeed I had my first mammogram as soon as possible after breastfeeding ended, lo and behold - cancer!)
breast cancer is an older woman's disease
mastectomies 100% prevent breast cancer, or prevent recurrence
many cancer doctors cut off their breasts and cut out their uteruses as they're just cancer causing organs (a cancer radiologist said this to me, no joke)
you'll feel better emotionally and physically when your "active treatment" is over
the whole naming of "active treatment" vs. "maintenance treatment" and how the latter sounds so much mellower -- these hormone regimines are no joke!
when you're done with cancer treatment your doctors can tell you that you are definitively cured of cancer
it's good news that if your cancer comes back it'll come back so many years later, you must be able to relax about it now
if you got cancer you must have done something to cause it (been too fat / too sedentary / ate wrong / etc)

FindingOptimism · May 2019

This week someone told me they would just know if they had breast cancer so they didn’t get mammograms.

SimoneRC · May 2019

That you only need to worry if your lump is hard, not movable and not smooth.

Every single doctor who felt my always lumpy breasts said they never would have thought what I felt was suspicious. I noticed the new lump on one of my best old lumps. Smooth, movable, soft, like a grape cut in half lengthwise. Thank goodness my GYN took me seriously despite having my annual 3D mammogram completely clear a few months before.

And, mammograms do not catch everything. The day of my ultrasound/core biopsy my 3D mammogram was completely clear as well.

Breast Cancer Myths

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