'Smart Bras' and male breast cancer | Momaha Blogs

Editor?s note:?Michael Huckabee?blogs for momaha?s sister site, LiveWellNebraska.com

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What do the Detroit Lions, a household vacuum and paper cups at a local coffee shop have in common? They are all adorned in pink this month, drawing greater awareness to breast cancer. One can?t walk through a department store, make it down the yogurt aisle or surf NFL.com without seeing pink. All this fuss over the color, especially when it takes over otherwise highly masculine activities, can get overwhelming and downright frustrating ? unless we keep in mind what pink represents.

One in eight women will deal with breast cancer at some point in her life, so we need not reach far to find someone who has been impacted by the disease. The American Cancer Society reports that the chance of reaching the?five-year survival mark?(after the cancer is removed) is near 99 percent if it?s caught early and treated appropriately. Before October comes to a close, here are four lesser-known breast cancer hallmarks.

The Smart Bra.?A new sports bra?includes sensors that detect subtle temperature changes in breast tissue. Wearing the bra over a testing period collects data that can determine ?hot spots,? indicating breast tissue hyperplasia, an unusual growth of breast tissue that often is early cancer.?After three study trials, the manufacturers report that the bra detects over 90 percent of breast abnormalities in women of all ages, which is a higher rate of detection than the traditional mammogram?s?78 ? 83 percent. The system costs about $1,000 and will be available in Europe next year and in the U.S. in 2014.

What happened to self-breast exams??Starting in the 1980s, many women were taught to examine their own breasts on a monthly basis. Then two landmark studies were published, one in China and one in Russia, which together included nearly 400,000 women.?The combined results found no improvement?in breast cancer mortality after fifteen years of monthly self-breast exams. Of greater concern, the women in the self-breast exam groups had nearly twice as many biopsies with benign results. Clinicians may still recommend the self-breast exam, and being familiar with one?s normal breast tissue certainly doesn?t hurt. However, today?s recommendation, as supported by research, is for women to receive breast exams performed by a clinician every year after age 40 (and every three years between ages 20 and 40).?The National Cancer Institute recommends that women have a mammogram?every one to two years beginning at age 40.

Cancer in the gene pool.?For years we have recognized that certain human genes can mutate leading to the development of breast cancer. BRCA1 and BRCA2 (named after BReast CAncer) are human genes that protect against cancer. But if mutations occur, the cancer cells are able to grow. Studies of 36 pairs of identical twins (with identical genetic makeups) show that one twin can develop breast cancer while the other doesn?t. The difference is a chemical signal that switches genetic mutations on or off (called?epigenetic alterations). A blood test can identify these genes and the alterations; however, they?re currently reserved for individuals known to be at risk for breast cancer. We are now learning how to control the epigenetic alteration so that in the future we?ll be able to prevent cancer from starting.

Not Just for Ladies.?One in every 1,000 men in the U.S.?will get breast cancer, and more than 400 men die each year from the disease. Breast cancer typically occurs in men between 60 and 70 years old, and as with women, early detection is key. However, most men don?t have regular breast cancer screenings. Men with a family history of breast cancer, or the BRCA2 mutation, or who?ve had radiation treatments around the chest area are at higher risk. Men with conditions that raise estrogen levels (which can also be induced by heavy drinking) are also at higher risk.?Peter Criss,?the former drummer for the rock group KISS has become a survivor of, and spokesman for, male breast cancer. He even recommends a patch of blue on the familiar pink ribbon, to remind men to be watchful.

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