El Paso medical expert highlights advances in treatment and prevention for breast cancer
EL PASO, TX (KVIA) -- October kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month and local health experts are highlighting key advances in treatment and the importance of early detection.
ABC-7 spoke to Frantz Berthaud, market director of oncology services at The Hospitals of Providence, who emphasized the importance of regular screenings. “A woman who is at average risk between the ages of 40 and 74 should get their mammogram every two years,” he said. “Now, that changes when someone is at higher risk. And there's several different factors that might change someone's risk factor.”
Berthaud says factors such as family history of breast or ovarian cancer, genetic mutations like the BRCA gene, radiation exposure to the chest or breast, and dense breasts can heighten someone’s risk.
He highlighted that a new FDA ruling is helping patients understand the meaning of having dense breasts and how it might increase the risk, “Imaging centers or any hospital or place that does mammograms, and other type of breast imaging, have to provide a report to patients that tell them about if they have dense breast or not.”
Breast cancer remains one of the most common cancers among women in El Paso County. Berthaud noted that 106 women out of every 100,000 are diagnosed annually.
Recent medical advances, including immunotherapies and robotic surgeries, are providing patients with more effective and less invasive treatment options. Along with genetic testing and assessments, “Pinpointing and understanding, well, this gene and how it's expressed, if it's mutated might lead to x, y, z has been huge because now we're able to kind of, curb breast cancer from the very beginning,” said Berthaud.
In addition to medical advancements, Berthaud stresses the importance of prevention. Maintaining an active lifestyle, limiting alcohol consumption, and reducing red meat intake are all simple ways to lower the risk of developing breast cancer.
“I think one of the most important things is even understanding ourselves. And certainly as both men and women, develop breast cancer, understanding what your breasts, what your body usually feels like, usually looks like,” emphasized Berthaud. “It’s super important to then advocate, to your abuelas, to your tias to everyone that you live with in your family that, you know, get checked out. That pain that you've been experiencing for X number of months, let's do something about that. I think it's the only way, to protect ourselves.”
