9 minute read
AROUND TOWN
TAKING ON BREAST CANCER WITH PRECISION
WRITTEN BY JULIE BURTON / PHOTO BY UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HEALTH SYSTEM
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There are approximately 7 billion humans on earth, and no two are exactly alike. We’re impossible to replicate. Even identical twins don’t have the same fingerprints.
This may shine a clue on how cancer works. Cancer is as singular as humans are. The University of Kansas Cancer Center holds a stunning statistic. It’s one that can’t be matched in the Kansas City area.
“If you look at the whole gamut of cancer, the average outcome for being treated at an NCI center has a 25 percent increase in survival at the end of one year,” says Dr. Roy Jensen, Director of the University of Kansas Cancer Center. NCI stands for National Cancer Institute, and the University of Kansas Cancer Center is the only NCI center in the Kansas City area.
The National Cancer Institute started in 1971. At the time, doctors didn’t know how complex cancer was. In fact, doctors believed cancer was caused by viruses. But cancer is not caused by viruses. It’s not
Pictured: The University of Kansas Cancer Center even one disease or dozens of diseases. “Cancer is literally hundreds of diseases and, in some respect, every tumor has some unique aspect about it,” Dr. Jensen explains. “Because it’s an enormously complex disease, this means experts from a wide variety of fields need to come together to attack the problem. That’s what NCI centers do—organize this whole multidisciplinary effort around cancer.”
According to the NCI, the most common type of cancer in the United States is breast cancer. Dr. Jamie Wagner, D.O., is a breast surgical oncologist, division chief of Breast Surgery and the Department of Surgery, and the director of the Breast Program at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.
Early detection is key at The University of Kansas Cancer Center. The top breast cancer doctors in the country know the intricacies of how cancer works, but there is one thing they don’t know—you. You have the intuition when something is wrong.
“We call it the mommy gut,” Dr. Wagner says. “Be comfortable with what you know about your body. Only you will be able to detect when something is not right for you when you self-check your breasts. And don’t be scared to get a second opinion.”
Women without a family history of breast cancer or women who do not fall into a high-risk category should get screened annually with mammography starting at the age of 40. Additional imaging is not necessary with normal density breast tissue. And only a mammogram will tell doctors your breast tissue density.
“We have a special interest in breast density,” Dr. Wagner explains. “Women with dense breast tissue have a four-fold increase in breast cancer. It doesn’t get talked about a lot. At 35, you’re going to have dense breast tissue. It’s important to know women with persistent dense breast tissue, because from a screening standpoint it lowers the sensitivity of a mammogram. Dense breast tissue shows as white. Cancer shows up as white. We overcome that by supplemental screening such as an ultrasound.” Even if you don’t feel anything in your breast tissue from self-breast exams, that shouldn’t deter you from still getting screened at 40. Breast cancer doesn’t always show up as a tumor. A mammogram will show calcifications you won’t feel. Other signs of breast cancer can be nipple discharge, changes in the skin such as redness or what looks like an orange peel with the pores dilated.
Skin pulling in or nipple retraction (if that isn’t normal for you) are also signs. “The biggest misnomer I hear from women is cancer doesn’t hurt,” warns Dr. Wagner. “Yes, it can. Cancer can definitely hurt depending on the location and size.”
Statistically, one in eight women will get breast cancer. Most women Dr. Wagner helps catch breast cancer at stage 1 or stage 2, and those are the women who get yearly screenings. Doctors and technology are getting better at diagnosing at early stages, but women and men are also increasing their education about health care. We’re educating ourselves enough to speak out more for a consultation.
“Breast cancer is not just breast cancer,” says Dr. Jensen. “There are many different types. Our specialists are also subspecialists. Their particular area of interest can be a piece of the breast cancer field. It’s customization. It’s precision to diagnosis and therapy that is applied.”
No two cancers are the exact same, much like no two individuals are the exact same. The University of Kansas Cancer Center treats you as you are— one individual of over 7 billion people.
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