PMCC CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES

Question 1

What is the single greatest risk factor for breast cancer

Answer 1

Age. The risk of a 60 year old woman being
diagnosed with breast cancer in the next ten years (3.45%) is eight times that of a 30 year-old
woman (0.43%)

Question 2

Prolonged exposure to _______ hormones increase breast cancer occurrence

Answer 2

Ovarian.
Early menarche (before age 12), relative risk = 1.3
Late menopause (after age 55), relative risk = 1.2-1.5
Nulliparous or first child after age 30, relative risk = 1.7-1.9
Combined hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) for 10 or more years
relative risk = 1.5

Question 3

What is the recommended timeline of screening of breast cancer after mantle radiation.

Answer 3

9 years.

Exposure of the breast to therapeutic levels of ionizing radiation is associated with an increase in
breast cancer risk. For
example, a female diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at age 20 years and treated with 40 Gray
of chest irradiation and no alkylating agents has an estimated cumulative breast cancer risk of
19.1% (95 % CI, 13.0% to 27.4%) over the next 30 years.

Question 4

T or F, women with very dense breast are less likely to develop beast cancer.

Answer 4

Women
with very dense breasts (density of > 75%) have over four times the risk of developing breast
cancer compared those with fatty breasts (breast density <10%)