KnowYourBreastCancerRisk.com

Practicing in Newport Beach, California, I have many patients with breast implants. Thus I am often asked if they can still have the HALO Breast Pap Test. In most cases the answer is an emphatic YES, but it depends on how your surgery was performed. Implants do not interfere with ability to perform the HALO test. In fact most women who have had breast lifts can also have the HALO. But in the past, it was not unusual for the milk ducts to be severed during the surgery, making it impossible for HALO to collect fluid from the ducts.  These days, the plastic surgeons don’t usually cut the breast ducts when performing breast lifts or augmentation. If a woman has successfully nursed after an implant or breast lift, then clearly her milk ducts are still intact. Therefore the HALO test can obtain cells from those breast ducts as well.

 

Another question that I am frequently asked, is how uncomfortable is the HALO exam? The answer is that it varies from patient to patient. Some patients barely notice anything, while others are quite uncomfortable. Most patients, however, are in the middle with only slight discomfort. I have done thousands of halos over the last few years and only 2 patients felt they could not finish the 5 minute HALO exam due to discomfort. Most patients say it is less uncomfortable than a mammogram. A good guide, is the amount of discomfort a woman may have had when nursing her children. Using myself as an example, when my babies first latched on I always cringed a little. Then within 30 seconds, the discomfort let up and I was fine for the duration of nursing. For me, the HALO is a similar experience. The first 30 seconds are uncomfortable, and then it eases up and I have no trouble finishing the 5 minutes. If you tend to have sensitive breasts, it might be a good idea to wait until after your menses to do the HALO. That is when your breasts are the least tender and thus the HALO will be most comfortable. So don’t let these fears stand in your way of having the Halo Breast Pap Test done.

My patients are all very used to getting a cervical Pap smear every year. It has been ingrained in us for decades that yearly Paps can lower the risk of cervical cancer. In fact, it’s been well proven that the incidence of cervical cancer has dropped dramatically since the advent of the Pap smear. Since the introduction of the Pap test, US deaths from cervical cancer have been reduced by over 80%. Patients think nothing of coming in regularly to get screened for cervical cancer, even when their risk is extremely low.

Yet, some patients will still hesitate to be screened regularly for breast cancer, even though a woman’s risk for breast cancer is much higher than her risk for cervical cancer. In the US, about 11,000 women will develop cervical cancer each year compared to over 180,000 women who will develop breast cancer.

The HALO Breast Pap test can detect abnormal cells in the breast ducts years before a mass would be visible on mammogram, or before a lump would be felt. Just as we collect cells from the cervix for the pathologist to look at under a microscope, with the HALO we can also collect cells from the breast ducts to examine under the microscope. If abnormal cells are detected the patient can be referred for early monitoring and intervention as needed.

Once patients get used to being screened regularly with the HALO, we can hopefully lower the rate of breast cancer over time. At the very least we could lower the morbidity and mortality from breast cancer, just as we’ve lowered it for cervical cancer using pap smears.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz from Florida’s 20^th district (FL-20) became aware last year that young women, women under the age 40, can and do get breast cancer - about 10,000 cases each year.

 

The Congresswoman herself was diagnosed with breast cancer and shortly thereafter discovered that she carries a mutation in her BRCA 2 gene. This placed her at a very high risk for both ovarian cancer as well as recurrent breast cancer.

 

The first step…. with that information in hand she has already taken preventative measures to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer plus steps to insure that her breast cancer will not return.

 

The next step… Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz has become an advocate for women throughout the United States. She introduced the “Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act of 2009″. This bill is more commonly referred to as the “EARLY Act”.

 

When adopted it will surely save lives!!

 

It is clear that young women need some help.  Actually, we all could use some education about young women and their risk of getting breast cancer, how it differs from breast cancer in older women and the unique situations and challenges the women are sure to face.

 

First, education is key, and this is what the bill is about. Young women must learn the facts, understand their risk, know their own bodies – breasts, speak up when there may be an issue, ask for and get appropriate help.

 

For most every cancer, risk assessment, prevention and early detection can save lives and for young breast cancer this is certainly true. As it stands today, not many women under 40 years old have been taught or have learned the lesson. In health care we need to put greater emphasis on prevention and early detection!!!

   

Just think of a 30 year old woman with cancer. What would it mean as far as relationships go? Married or not, just think of the stress it would probably bring into a relationship. How about work? In the best of health it is hard to get and keep a job these days. These are not the best of times for financial instability.

             

There are entire textbooks filled with the challenges women face after a breast cancer diagnosis - double that for young women.

 

I applaud Rep.Wasserman Schultz. We must target the needs, both the physical and emotional, of our young adults. Education, understanding risk, prevention and early detection sum up the Early Act. The Congresswoman has it right. We all can do more. So, let‘s do that.

 

Check out the link to Rep. Debra Wasserman Schultz’s Early Act:

 

http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/earlyact/index.shtml

 

What can you do? Write your Senators and House members and tell them to support the EARLY Act. You can find their contact info at www.thomas.house.gov. While the bill (H.R. 1740) already has more than 270 coscponsors, popular support is crucial to getting it passed.