Life & Style: Breast Cancer Myths and Facts

Breast Cancer Myths Exposed

MYTH: Cutting cancer or allowing air to contact it causes it to spread.

FACT: Surgery remains a highly effective way to remove breast cancer from the body. Many African American women are diagnosed with breast cancer after it has moved to other parts of the body (metastatic breast cancer). There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer. This makes it doubly important for every woman, including African American women, to adhere to proven screening recommendations to help find breast cancer early if it occurs. Once breast cancer is detected, delaying or rejecting surgical treatment increases the risk of metastatic disease and even death.

MYTH: Wearing a bra or a bra with an underwire contributes to breast cancer.

FACT: Although there has been a great deal of discussion that wearing an underwire bra, or a bra in general, might increase risk for breast cancer, such a link is not supported by the scientific evidence. A 1991 case-control study found that pre-menopausal women who did not wear bras had a lower risk of breast cancer than women who did wear bras; however, the researchers concluded this link not linked to the bra itself. The women in the study who did not wear a bra were more likely to be lean and have smaller breasts. Weight increases risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, and breast size is currently under study as a potential risk factor for disease.

MYTH: Deodorant use causes breast cancer.

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FACT: There have only been a small number of studies looking at the link between deodorant use and breast cancer. Research in this area was driven by concerns that chemicals found in deodorants might enter the skin in the underarm and cause changes in the cells of the breast that could lead to cancer. However, the evidence to date does not support a link between the two. Although a link between deodorant and breast cancer appears unlikely, there are too few studies in this area to say for sure.

MYTH: Mammograms cause cancer.


FACT: A mammogram is an X-ray picture of the breast. The X-ray machine uses very little radiation to detect breast cancer. The amount of radiation that is used in mammography has been reduced greatly and is considered to be safe for women of the appropriate age. It is recommended that women begin annual screening mammography at age 40. Mammography is the best tool doctors have to find breast cancer early. When breast cancer is found early, the 5 year survival rate is over 98% The benefits of mammograms, according to modern medicine, greatly outweigh the risks.

MYTH: If I have cancer, there is nothing I can do about it.

FACT: If breast cancer is found, there are more effective breast cancer-specific therapies today than ever before. Scientists are learning more about the biology of breast cancer allowing them to tailor treatment to the specific diagnosis. This increases the effectiveness of treatment because it helps identify the treatments that are most likely to benefit each patient. Knowing about the genetics of breast cancer has also led scientists to create drugs that prolong life. Much can be done today if breast cancer is found.



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