Business Women 2002

Published July 2002

Don’t delay in getting care for breast lump

By The Comprehensive Breast Center
Guest Columnist

When it comes to breast health, women should know two truths: First, most breast abnormalities or breast lumps are not cancer. Second, for those that are cancerous, the earlier the cancer is detected, the higher the cure rate. Today the 10-year survival rate for Stage I and II breast cancer hovers between 80 and 90 percent.

Breast center offers latest
in screening technology

For routine mammography or if a breast concern exists, there is now a new resource in Snohomish County with the opening of the Comprehensive Breast Center at the Providence Pavilion for Women and Children in Everett.

The center provides the latest in screening and diagnostic images. The TACT (Tuned Aperture Computed Topography) system offers 3-D mammography that can be viewed layer by layer with images that can be rotated, showing abnormalities that, because of their position, would have been hidden from view in a two-dimensional picture.

For more information about the Comprehensive Breast Center, call the Providence Resource Line at 800-554-6600 or visit the Web site, www.providence.org/everett.

One of the most common mistakes women make regarding their breast health is waiting too long to get care when they become aware of a lump. Sometimes they are scared; sometimes they assume it’s nothing and don’t want to overreact.

Whatever the reason, too many women put it off. By the time they see a professional, if it is cancer, it’s harder to treat. Health-care clinicians emphasize women taking ownership of their own breast health by performing monthly breast self-exams, getting an annual mammogram and an annual professional exam. Most importantly, women should seek prompt care if an abnormality is found.

It’s important to note that breast-cancer treatment has come a long way in the past decade. Breast-cancer surgery 20 years ago used to be a mastectomy and radical lymph node surgery with a weeklong hospital stay. Now it is treated most often through minimally invasive techniques such as a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy that can be done in just a few hours.

To get the right treatment, women need to become self-educated about breast cancer. They need to understand breast-cancer stages and contemporary treatment. The Comprehensive Breast Center at the Providence Pavilion for Women and Children offers a resource library with recommended Internet sites. There is also a peer survivor program so a woman with a new cancer diagnosis has a resource in another woman who has already been through it. Also, The Family Resource Center in the Pavilion offers books and other information sources that have all been reviewed by medical experts.

The other thing to consider when dealing with breast cancer is to get a second opinion. If a woman has a clinician that says she needs a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, it’s very appropriate for her to seek a second opinion, even if she likes that physician.

This column was submitted by the Comprehensive Breast Center at the Providence Pavilion for Women and Children in Everett.

Back to the top/Business Women 2002 Main Menu