Truth #4: When breast cancer shows up on a mammogram, it may have been in your body for 6-10 years.

TRUE. What is early detection? We probably think of it as early enough to intervene and save a life. But there are different kinds of breast cancer. For some of them, if they are surgically removed, the breast cancer has been effectively "cured." For others, it can be found really early, yet no known intervention will "cure" it. Complicated? Yes. But the truth about breast cancer is just that.

NBCC embraces a philosophy of evidence-based health care, and has long raised questions about the value of mammography screening and other tests. This is important because patients need to be assured about the value of all medical interventions, and public health resources need to be used with certainty about value to the public's health.

NBCC believes that in order to make true progress in breast cancer we need to better understand what causes this disease, what puts individual women at risk beyond the known risk factors, how different types of breast cancer behave, and which treatments are appropriate and effective for each type of breast cancer to ensure that women receive quality care.

 
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Learn more about NBCC’s history of shaping the world of breast cancer and our top priority of guaranteeing quality care for all.

 

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