Doctors often advise women with a genetic risk and family history of breast cancer to get mammography, especially for those who are positive for BRCA genes. It should be noted that undergoing tests such as mammography and genetic tests does not appear to help in the prevention of breast cancer.

It is noteworthy that mammography helps the doctor to diagnose breast cancer in the early stages of the cancer. But doing mammograms does not help doctors to diagnose the breast cancer before the cancer has started growing.

If breast cancer is detected in the early stages, results of surgery i.e. mastectomy are better and a significant number of these patients can live five years whereas if the cancer is detected after it has spread to surrounding tissues, the results of surgery are not all that good.

There are four options for the management of those women with family history of breast cancer and are positive for BRCA genes.

1. Watch and wait.

2. Take oestrogen lowering drug tamoxifen for the rest of their lives. Tamoxifen has various side-effects such as stroke, cataracts , deep vein thrombosis , uterine cancer and pulmonary embolism.

3. Undergoing mastectomy (surgical removal of breasts).

4. Nutritional approach i.e. consuming a diet free of animal - based foods and low in refined carbohydrates aided by regular monitoring of those at high risk. Internationally famous nutritionist, T. Collin Campbell, PhD says "I stand by the usefulness of the fourth option even for women who have already had a first mastectomy".

It is noteworthy that diet is an effective treatment of those already diagnosed with advanced heart disease, liver cancer, melanoma, and clinically documented Type II Diabetes

D. P. Athukorale
Colombo 7