October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.According to the American Cancer Society’s website, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the US besides skin cancers, accounting for about one in three new cancers in women each year.Scott Brocato spoke with Dr. Paula Delgado, OB/GYN with Mountain View Medical Group, about breast cancer and preventative measures.
Scott Brocato:
Can you talk a little bit about your medical background?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
Yeah, definitely. I went to medical school in Georgia, in Augusta, Georgia, Medical College of Georgia; and then I came to New Mexico for residency, and I did OB-GYN residency at the University of New Mexico. And this is sort of my first job after residency here in Las Cruces.
Scott Brocato:
And how long have you been an OB/GYN?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
So OBGYN residency is four years, but as an attending OBGYN, it's going on two years now.
Scott Brocato:
Well, talking about breast cancer, what are the early signs and symptoms of breast cancer to look for?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
Yeah, honestly, like a lot of the breast cancers that are diagnosed are picked up on screening mammography. which is an incredibly important aspect of getting those annual mammograms. But I also always try to talk about self-breast examinations as well, because patients can often pick up on things even faster than someone who touches your breast once a year during your annual appointment.
And so the things that we typically talk about are, for example, new bumps, new lumps, but it's not just that. It's also like superficial skin changes: dimpling of the skin, redness of the skin, a new rash that up on your breast, we want to know about all those things. Nipple discharge, whether that's new clear discharge or of course like any bloody nipple discharge--those are all red flags. So when I counsel patients, we try to talk about all those things.
And the really important thing also is self breast awareness and you gauging what your breasts feel like, so that when something new comes up, you're able to detect it and talk to your primary care provider, your OB-GYN.
Scott Brocato:
You mentioned annual mammograms. Is that the amount of time that a person should get one? And at what age should women start getting mammograms?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
Yeah, that's a great question. So a typical screening for people who are considered just a general risk sort of patient population would be at 40. That’s when we start either one every year or every two-year mammograms.
And then there's another subset of population patients where if you have risk factors. So there's some people who have increased genetic predisposition, whether that's a family history of a BRCA sort of genetic gene component, then those patients would often have earlier screening.
It is like a very individualized sort of thing. But in general, like say you're someone who has no family history--you're doing your breast exams, you haven't palpated or noticed anything different--then we typically start at 40. I would typically recommend every year mammograms.
Scott Brocato:
Can a healthy diet help prevent breast cancer? And if so, what types of foods are especially beneficial?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
So I wouldn't say that there's a specific food in general, but just like with any other aspect of generalized health, a healthy diet and lifestyle can really contribute to just overall improved health outcomes. We talk a lot about the benefit of physical activity, exercise, breastfeeding as sort of things that can help modify and decrease our risk. So I would advocate for just in general, like a healthy diet and lifestyle. I wouldn't say like there's a specific thing, you know? It's not like, “Oh, cranberry juice is going to decrease the risk.” Not necessarily.
Scott Brocato:
Is there a link between birth control and breast cancer?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
So we think that birth control can be protective for some people and reduce the risk of breast cancer in a subset of populations. That is a little bit of a nuanced conversation. And so what I would recommend is whenever you're having these annual appointments and having the conversations about what are your specific risk factors, to have that in-depth conversation with your primary care provider of like, what birth control have you been on? How long have you been on it? And what does that kind of do with your risk evaluation?
Scott Brocato:
Can you talk about any new developments or treatments or technology over the past year or so in the fight against breast cancer, or is there anything on the horizon, that you're kind of excited about?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
I think that with--and I'm not an oncologist, so I feel like that's a little bit more of a specific question for an oncologist--but as a generalist provider, what I feel really excited about is the change of genetic components and genetic analysis of certain cancers and how that drives treatment for people. That I think is quite a paradigm shift compared to where we were at before.
In terms of things that I think are relatively newer as compared to say a decade ago, for example, would be something like the Tyrer-Cuzick score. It's an online assessment that takes into consideration your personal and family history. And people are able to do this at home. You of course could be walked along by doing it with a provider as well during an annual appointment, but it is able to categorize people's specific risk factors: family history of breast cancers, family history of breast cancers diagnosed in people who were younger who had genetic components. And then it is able to give you sort of a lifetime risk factor score. And those who are categorized within the higher risk factor category, that changes what screening would look like. And so I would recommend being able to gauge into that family history, asking questions, talking to your parents, talking to aunts and uncles and investigating that a little bit more.
Scott Brocato:
Is there anything else you'd like to add to the topic of breast cancer awareness that we haven't discussed already?
Dr. Paula Delgado:
Really just like to make a huge push for people to become very aware of your bodies and do your breast exams every month. And we think that this is only a female sort of disease or condition, but males can be affected by breast cancer too. And so that awareness is just so important.
