Fear May Cause Some to Avoid Self-Exams

Finding a lump in her breast is every woman’s nightmare. But for some women at greater risk of breast cancer, this fear may actually endanger their health.

A UCLA study released earlier this month suggests that the frightening prospect may prevent women with a family history of breast cancer from doing routine self-exams. Of the 430 women who participated in the study, 79% did get regular mammograms, which are X-rays of breast tissue, and 89% went in for routine Pap smears, which test for the presence of cancer cells in the cervix. Yet only 34% performed regular breast self-exams. Even though breast self-exams aren’t as good at detecting cancer as mammography, they can identify suspicious lumps between regular mammograms.

Although the women were worried about all the screening procedures, they were often most worried about the self-exams. “The possibility of finding disturbing information while alone sets off anxiety that makes this procedure too threatening,” especially for high-risk women, according to the study’s authors, David Wellisch and Nangel Lindberg of the UCLA School of Medicine.

The researchers advise women who are at a higher risk of breast cancer to get more frequent breast exams from their doctors or other health care professionals.