1 in 5 Women Disregard their Risk for Breast Cancer

Statistics show that as many as 34,580 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone, and 40,030 will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

The National Cancer Institute also shows that approximately one in 750,000 American women carry harmful mutations relating to breast cancer but may lack the proper funds or insurance to receive treatment or testing. For instance, according to the institute, up to 40 percent of women with a BRCA mutation will develop ovarian cancer, compared with 1.4 percent of women with a mutation.

And unfortunately, a new study shows that despite both genetic and environmental factors that can put some at a greater risk for breast cancer, nearly 20 percent of women deny they could be at risk for the health condition.

 "If people don't believe their risk numbers, it does not allow them to make informed medical decisions," saidsenior study author Angela Fagerlin, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a research scientist at the VA Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management Research, via a press release. "Women who believe their risk is not high might skip chemoprevention strategies that could significantly reduce their risk. And women who think their risk should be higher could potentially undergo treatments that might not be medically appropriate, which can have long-term ramifications."

The study looked at 690 women who were at an above-average risk of developing breast cancer and who completed a web-based decision aid that included questions regarding their age, ethnicity, personal history of breast cancer and educational background.

The participants were then told their five-year risk of developing breast cancer and given information regarding preventative strategies to take.

The study notes that over the next five years, women were asked to recall their risk of breast cancer. Study results showed that approximately 22 percent misreported their risk or disagreed with the possibility of the risk.

Women listed their most common reason for disagreement about believing they could get breast cancer as family history. For instance, they were more likely to believe they were at an increased risk for cancer only if first-degree female relatives had breast cancer. Others actually believed a gut instinct cut their risk.

 "We've put so much fear in people about breast cancer so they feel at high risk," said lead study author Laura D. Scherer, Ph.D., via the release. "We found that many women assumed certain factors should impact their risk, like cancer history in distant or male relatives, but those factors don't put a woman at increased risk."

What do you think?

More information regarding the study can be found in Patient, Education and Counseling.