2024-07-22 10:05:00
However, at the age of 45, J. Pushkin felt a lump in her breast. Unfortunately, the woman was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.
She was shocked – the doctors did not see the tumor in the mammogram photos. These explained that the patients have dense breast tissue, so it is more difficult to notice the formation in the breast during a mammographic examination.
Indrė Lekienė, a doctor at the Radiological and Nuclear Medicine Center of Santara Clinics, has previously warned women that women with glandular breast tissue should be especially vigilant because of its density.
“There is actually an international recommendation that if a woman has had an ultrasound or a mammogram, she should be informed that her breast tissue is glandular. So that the woman knows, shuts up and understands that she needs to get checked more often,” said I. Lekienė during the broadcast on Facebook. The full text can be found here.
However, J. Pushkin did not know this. She later found out that about 40 percent of women have dense breast tissue. women.
Because the cancer was not diagnosed early, Pushkin needed a double mastectomy, seven surgeries and a course of chemotherapy. Five years later, the oncological disease returned and then 30 radiation therapy procedures were needed, he wrote „Business Insider“.
Making sure other women are informed
“Dense” breasts have more glands and fibrous tissue, so they look different on mammograms. Both the dense tissue and the tumor are visible in white on the examination photo, so the formation can “hide” and remain unnoticed.
This happened in the case of J. Pushkin.
Moreover, it has been observed that owners of dense breast tissue have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
At first, J. Pushkin thought she was exceptional, but when she returned home, she found out that about 40 percent of the population has this type of breast. women.
Other screening methods, such as ultrasound or MRI, would have caught her cancer much earlier.
Mr. Pushkin was disappointed and angry that during the 5 years when he visited doctors, he was not warned that he had dense breasts. She is now the director of DenseBreast-info, an organization that encourages doctors to inform women about their breast type.
Mr. Pushkin contributed to the law in the state of New York, where she lives, establishing the duty of doctors to mention to women after a mammogram that they have dense breast tissue.
Similar legislation is currently scheduled to go into effect across the US this fall.
According to J.Pushkin, women with cancer fought for the new order, and some of them have already left for Anapilin.
Changes are being prepared in Lithuania
The breast cancer prevention program currently operating in Lithuania is intended for women aged 50 to 69 (inclusive), who can undergo a mammographic examination once every 2 years.
After receiving a referral from a family doctor for a mammography examination, it is possible to pre-register (on arrival or by phone) at a health care facility that has a mammography facility. The results of the examination are reported by the family doctor after receiving them from the institution that evaluates the mammograms.
However, as reported by the Ministry of Health, from 2025 On January 1st, changes await all over Lithuania. Women aged 45-74 will be able to participate in the early diagnosis program for breast cancer. Patients will also undergo a new modern examination – breast tomosynthesis, which allows for the examination of even extremely small (up to 2-3 mm) suspicious formations.
Doctors emphasize that screening programs are aimed at women who do not have any symptoms of the disease. If you feel an unclear formation in the breast, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor, regardless of age.
Symptoms of breast cancer: changes in the shape and size of the breast: enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit; discolored, lemon-peel-like skin; nipple included; a raised, eczema-like area on the nipple.
2024-07-22 10:05:00