Truth #21: You should question your doctor.

TRUE. Informed decision making is an important part of quality care. Patients should feel comfortable questioning and challenging and participating in their care decisions.

Some patients are still more comfortable letting the doctor solely decide the treatment plan, and do not choose to have greater involvement in their treatment choices. However, many patients do want a role in deciding their treatment plan and personally weighing the potential risks and benefits of each treatment option against their preferences and values. Patients should have access to readily available, unbiased, evidence-based, and understandable information and facts about their condition.

 
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NBCC’s KnowBreastCancer.org website is an online resource that equips individuals with more information for the decision-making process. Learn more about treatment rationales, levels of scientific and clinical evidence, the magnitude of demonstrated benefits and harms, descriptions of known side effects, and important unresolved issues and controversies related to various interventions at KnowBreastCancer.org. If you want to understand evidence at a deeper level, consider taking Project LEAD or other courses offered by the Center for NBCC Advocacy Training.

 

 

31 Myths and Truths about Breast Cancer

1
Myth #1: Monthly breast self exams save lives
2
Myth #2: Mammograms can only help and not harm you
3
Myth #3: MRI is better than mammography because it finds more cancer
4
Truth #4: When breast cancer shows up on a mammogram, it may have been in your body for 6-10 years
5
Truth #5: Breast cancer mortality rates are declining
6
Myth #6: Mammograms prevent breast cancer
7
Truth #7: We don’t know how to prevent breast cancer
8
Myth #8: Most women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease
9
Myth #9: Men don’t get breast cancer
10
Truth #10: Risk of breast cancer increases with age
11
Truth #11: Most people think they have a higher risk of breast cancer than they actually do
12
Myth #12: Everyone's breast cancer is the same
13
Myth #13: Everyone who has a positive BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 test result will get breast cancer
14
Truth #14: The mortality rate from breast cancer is higher for African American women than for Caucasian women
15
Myth #15: In terms of survival, removing the entire breast is better than just cutting the cancer out and getting radiation
16
Myth #16: There are drugs that can prevent breast cancer
17
Myth #17: Once diagnosed with breast cancer, it’s very important to make treatment decisions immediately
18
Myth #18: Second opinions are only for treatment options. Once I know I have breast cancer, I can get a second opinion on how to treat the disease
19
Truth #19: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases your risk of breast cancer
20
Myth #20: With new treatments we can now cure breast cancer
21
Truth #21: You should question your doctor
22
Myth #22: If I am not a scientist, then I won’t be able to understand breast cancer research
23
Truth #23: Your tax dollars fund a significant amount of breast cancer research
24
Myth #24: My Senators and Members of Congress have no role in what happens in breast cancer
25
Myth #25: The media accurately reports breast cancer science
26
Myth #26: All breast cancer research is good because it moves us toward prevention and a cure
27
Myth #27: Breast cancer survivors are too close to the issue to participate in how research money is spent
28
Truth #28: Less than 3% of adult cancer patients participate in clinical trials
29
Truth #29: I can educate myself
30
Truth #30: I can influence what happens in Washington D.C. about breast cancer
31
Truth #31: I can make a difference