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Because if you have the genetic mutation (BRAC?) she is at higher risk. She hasn't indicated any desire for a mammo, so I'm thinking she wouldn't want to do the testing either. Since you do have a daughter I'm suprised your doctor hasn't suggested you be tested. Mine asked me, but I have no kids so there was no point.
She has always done things her way. Still I think this is so important and she has never had a baseline mammogram and will not go. Her beliefs are that the law of attraction will keep her from getting cancer, or some such baloney.
My breast cancer was found with the annual screening and I was lucky enough that it was caught early and I am 5 years post mastectomy now, with a whole lot less worries. Except now, I am worried about her. What to do? Nag or let it go???
42 is borderline too young for a mammogram. The breast tissue at that age usually is still too dense to show anything. Maybe the doctor ordered it because there's a family history of breast cancer? Still, I wouldn't worry about her skipping it, unless you had your breast cancer at that age. Did you have any risk factors, like smoking? Does she?
42 is borderline too young for a mammogram. The breast tissue at that age usually is still too dense to show anything. Maybe the doctor ordered it because there's a family history of breast cancer? Still, I wouldn't worry about her skipping it, unless you had your breast cancer at that age. Did you have any risk factors, like smoking? Does she?
Women should have mammograms every two years from age 50 to 74 years. Talk to your health professional if you have any symptoms or changes in your breast, or if breast cancer runs in your family. He or she may recommend that you have mammograms before age 50 or more often than usual.
Women with average breast cancer risk should start annual mammograms at age 40.
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The value of screening mammograms was questioned in November 2009 when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that routine screening mammograms for women with an average risk of breast cancer should start at age 50 instead of age 40. The recommended changes were very controversial and were not universally adopted.
Since that time, the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Radiology, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network all have issued guidelines saying that all women should be eligible for screening mammograms starting at age 40.
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Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer and have an abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene often have a family history of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other cancers. Still, most people who develop breast cancer did not inherit an abnormal breast cancer gene and have no family history of the disease.
You are substantially more likely to have an abnormal breast cancer gene if:
You have blood relatives (grandmothers, mother, sisters, aunts) on either your mother's or father's side of the family who had breast cancer diagnosed before age 50.
National Cancer Institute:
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NCI recommends that women age 40 or older have screening mammograms every 1 to 2 years.
PhxBarb, you as the mother with a history of breast cancer should consider having the genetic testing. The information you obtain from that might be useful to your daughter as she decides when to have her first mammogram. Education is power, help empower her. Good luck.
The information quoted above is not really pertinent to someone such at the OP's daughter, who has a first degree relative with breast cancer. My understanding is that women with a first degree relative who have had breast cancer, are recommended to obtain a baseline mammogram at the age 10 years earlier than said relative was diagnosed. My mother, sister, and myself have all been told that by our doctors and as we each see different doctors, in different areas of the country, I feel safe in assuming that is a basic standard of care. My mother was diagnosed in her mid-40s, so I should have had my first mammo in my mid-30s. Unfortunately I got breast cancer before that point. My younger sister recently saw her doctor and because of my age at my diagnosis, my sister has been advised to get her first mammogram now, at the age of 30.
And the BRCA gene is certainly pertinent but it is no reassurance if you do not have it. We have breast cancer all over the maternal side of my family but do not have the gene. Most women with breast cancer are not BRCA+. Knowing you have the gene is important because there may be things a woman wants to do proactively to prevent getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer, but in no way would the absence of the gene mean that the OP's daughter should feel safe skipping having a mammogram.
But many of them, if not most, are inconclusive at that age. Insurance companies have backed off, and tend to recommend women start a bit later. Thermography is recommended for women with dense breast tissue. It's safer than mammography, and can detect anomalies years earlier than mammograms.
But many of them, if not most, are inconclusive at that age. Insurance companies have backed off, and tend to recommend women start a bit later. Thermography is recommended for women with dense breast tissue. It's safer than mammography, and can detect anomalies years earlier than mammograms.
The information quoted above is not really pertinent to someone such at the OP's daughter, who has a first degree relative with breast cancer..
There were comments in the thread about "first" mamos that had conflicting info, and thus well sourced information is useful to all. As for those with an immediate family member(s) who has had breast cancer, the info is pertinent because it includes the recommendation to "Talk to your health professional if you have any symptoms or changes in your breast, or if breast cancer runs in your family". If you would like to add more sourced information, that would be great, and I know that your post meant to be a warning to those with a familial cancer history to be extra cautious, but don't downplay the basic knowledge that is included in what has already been provided, it could make a difference to some women who are making choices about screening without having even basic knowledge.
Meanwhile, my best of healthful wishes to you.
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