Breast Cancer Prevention Practices Vary Across Canada
Breast cancer preventive practices for Canadian women carrying the cancer gene vary across the country, says University of Toronto research, and many women are not taking advantage of the options available.
The study, published in the journal Open Medicine, followed the experiences of Canadian women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation a genetic mutation that predisposes them to a 87 per cent lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. Women carrying the gene have several options for cancer prevention including prophylactic surgery, chemoprevention and screening; however, researchers observed significant differences across Canada in the uptake of these preventions, with women in Quebec the least likely to use preventive measures.
"We were very surprised by the discrepancy in preventative measures taken across the country," says Professor Kelly Metcalfe, Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, lead author of the study. "The benefit of genetic testing is that we can identify women at high risk of developing breast cancer and hopefully reduce that risk. Ultimately though, women have to elect to undertake one of the options."
In the study, 672 Canadian women were identified as carrying the genetic mutation. Followup questionnaires were completed after a mean of four years. Out of the 342 women without breast cancer after four years, 157 (46 per cent) had not undertaken any cancer prevention option such as a mastectomy, oophorectomy or tamoxifen or raloxifene drugs used in chemoprevention. Broken down geographically, 39 per cent of women with the genetic mutation in Ontario did not take preventive measures; 34 per cent in Western Canada and 62 per cent in Quebec.
"The numbers show a huge discrepancy, with women in Quebec being the least likely to elect for a preventive option," Metcalfe says. "This will have significant implications in terms of the numbers of cancers we see developing in this high-risk group. We still need to do more research to explain why these differences exist."
University of Toronto
1 comment:
Fibrocystic Breast Disease, the Iodine Deficiency Connection
A good friend of ours just went through an ordeal with breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer has increased to 1 in 8 women, with 4,000 new cases weekly.
You might ask, could there be a preventive measure which is safe, cheap and widely available that has been overlooked?
The answer is YES , and it's the essential mineral, Iodine, which was added to table salt in 1924 as part of a national program to prevent Goiter. It turns out that this same Iodine in table salt is the key to breast cancer prevention as proposed by the following list of prestigious doctors:
Guy Abraham, MD, Robert Derry MD PHD, David Brownstein MD, George Flechas MD, Donald Miller, M.D.
Dr. B.A. Eskin published 80 papers over 30 years researching iodine and breast cancer, and he reports that iodine deficiency causes breast cancer and thyroid cancer in humans and animals. Iodine deficiency is also known to cause a pre-cancerous condition called fibrocystic breast disease.
W.R. Ghent published a paper in 1993 which showed iodine supplementation works quite well to reverse and resolve fibrocystic changes of the breast, and this is again the subject of a current clinical study.(Can J Surg. 1993 Oct;36(5):453-60.)
Despite its obvious potential, not much has been done with Iodine treatment over the past 40 years in the United States. Since iodine isn't patentable and is therefore unlikely to be profitable to market, there is no money to fund studies for FDA approval. However, FDA approval is not required since Iodine is already an additive to table salt at the supermarket.
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Jeffrey Dach MD
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