Breast Cancer Myth Dispelled - Educating and Empowering Women

Breast Health Myth Buster

Did you know? Only 10% of breast cancers are attributed to family inheritance, with the remaining 90% owed to environmental, dietary, lifestyle, or unknown causes?

Ask most any woman on the street what percentage of breast cancers are due to family history, and she will respond with an answer of anywhere between 70-90%. Yet, despite this popular and unfortunate belief, almost the exact opposite is true. A full 90% of breast cancers are owed to environmental, dietary, lifestyle or unknown causes, with only 10% owed to confirmed family history. This is to say that if you were in a room with 100 women, all with breast cancer, only 10 of these women would have contracted the disease through a defective gene passed on from an ancestor.

Needless to say, the notion that breast cancer is primarily a genetic disease passed on from ancestors is a huge misconception, creating a profound sense of false security in many women. A sense of security that subconsciously says, "No worries, I do not have a family history of breast cancer, so I have nothing to fear." Fear for fear's sake is a worthless and agonizing emotion. However, fear turned to action can help ensure a healthy and self-confident future.

Clearing the Confusion

When most women hear that breast cancers are linked to genes, they confuse this with meaning that breast cancer is a “genetic” disease caused primarily by a strong family history for breast cancer. As you shall see, nothing could be further from the truth.

The confusion regarding the cause of breast cancer surrounds its link to genes that control breast cell repair and replication.

In women with a family history of breast cancer, it is highly likely that this gene(s) is flawed from birth, with the preponderance to begin hyper-replicating breast cancer cells in the formation of a tumor later in life. As mentioned prior, 10% of breast cancers are attributed to a defect in this gene. In these cases the breast cell gene(s) are defective. Not all women with defective and inherited genes will contract breast cancer. Generally, the defective gene by itself is not enough to initiate breast cancer, but a trigger of sorts must wake the sleeping gene to begin massively replicating cancerous cells.

In the remaining 90% of breast cancers,  women are born with normal breast cell genes that are damaged later in life due to environmental, dietary, lifestyle, or unknown causes. Repetitive damage to the gene may cause the breast cell to become malignant, hyper-producing breast cancer cells.

So while it is true that breast cancer is a genetic disease, that is, it originates in the genes, only 10% of breast cancers are attributed to an inheritance of defective breast cell genes, while a full 90% of breast cancers are owed to normal breast cell genes becoming damaged later in life.

To clarify, women who have  inherited a breast cancer gene(s) are not guaranteed to contract the disease. Furthermore, women without an inherited breast cancer gene(s) may still contract the disease. In fact, women without an inherited breast cancer gene make up the majority of breast cancer cases per capita (90% vs. 10%).

Most women who are aware of a genetically inherited, yet dormant, breast cancer gene have discussed and decided on a course of proactivity with their doctor. More and more women, those making up the remaining 90% of women that may contract breast cancer - though previously thought at little risk, are beginning to look for answers of their own, answers that may help them ensure a long, healthy, and vital life.

The Estrogen Connection

If only 10% of breast cancers are owed to inheritance of a defective gene, while a full 90% are due to breast cell genes being damaged later in life - then the prevailing question is what is the cause of damaged genes? These breast cancers are owed to damaging mutations resulting from excessive or prolonged estrogen exposure, environmental exposure, dietary, lifestyle, or unknown causes.

While estrogen is listed as but one of the potential culprits, it may have a hand in all of them. Estrogen is a double-edged sword, preserving bone density and cardiovascular health on one hand, and on the other, a primary determining factor for contracting breast cancer. An increased lifetime exposure to natural, artificial, and environmental sources of estrogen has become the single greatest-known risk factor associated with breast cancer. Women today may be exposed to more environmental and natural forms of estrogen than any other time in human history.

Estrogen Fuels the Fire

Estrogen is the fuel that stimulates the rate and speed that breast cells divide. When a cell divides, it goes through a process where it makes copies of its own genetic information (DNA), then splits into two new cells, each of which contains a carbon copy of the original DNA.

The cells pause in what is called a resting phase between each division. During the resting phase, the cells check their DNA for damage (mutations) and repair it if detected. Excess estrogen may cause the cells to divide too quickly, rushing through the resting phase, leaving potential mutations undetected. Once a mutation has occurred in a cell, it too divides, but now replicating defective and mutated cells instead of healthy cells. Natural anti-estrogens such as lignans, as well as artificial anti-estrogens such as Tamoxifen, may prolong the resting phase, allowing cells the time and attention necessary to detect and correct mutations.

Once a cell has mutated, either as in the example above, or due to familial, dietary, lifestyle, environmental, or unknown causes, estrogen is the fuel that feeds the division of these mutated cells in the ultimate formation of a tumor/ breast cancer. Natural and synthetic anti-estrogens compete for the estrogen receptor site on these cells, cutting off estrogen's signal to the cell to rapidly divide. (May accompany with graphics)

How Can Women Access their Individual Risk?

To give you some idea of the impact that excessive estrogen exposure has on determining one's likelihood of contracting breast cancer, one need only consider the standard for predicting the disease. The "Gail Model" is a tool developed by Gail and colleagues at the National Cancer Institute to quantify an individual woman's risk of developing breast cancer, usually for clinical counseling purposes or to determine eligibility for clinical trials.

The Gail Model considers five criteria in determining a women's risk for breast cancer.

  1. Current age
  2. Age at menarche
  3. Number of breast biopsies
  4. Age at first live birth
  5. Number of first-degree relatives with breast cancer

Of the five criteria, three of them are intimately tied to a woman's exposure to estrogen during her lifetime (#'s 1, 2, and 4), while only one addresses inheriting a defective gene from an ancestor (#5).

  1. Current age: The older you are, the longer that you have been exposed to estrogen, increasing the likelihood of damage to breast cell genes.
  2. Age at menarche: The younger that you are when you begin to menstruate, the longer you will ultimately be exposed to estrogen during your lifetime. Couple this with a late menopause and your risk increases further.
  3. Age at first live birth: Estrogen levels drop off considerably while pregnant and lactating. Multiple live births with subsequent breast-feeding further decrease your risk for breast cancer.

Proactive Breast Health Empowers Women

The realization that estrogen is the single greatest-known risk factor for predicting breast health has created a revolutionary new approach of "Proactive Breast Health" founded on the "estrogen window." Though a new approach, managing your estrogen window is time-honored, true, and scientifically established. There are many factors that contribute to your estrogen window, some controllable, others not. Those that are in your control may profoundly impact your breast health in a positive way. Brevail is the first and only natural product designed to address the estrogen window.

Summary

Many women are living with a false sense of security in respect to their individual risk of contracting breast cancer, based on the common misconception that the disease is contracted primarily as a result of familiar inheritance of defective genes. The fact is that only 10% of breast cancers are due to genetic inheritance of defective genes, with a full 90% owed to other causes. With this realization, many women have decided on a proactive approach by choosing to manage their estrogen windows - and as such, address the leading known cause of the disease.