Cancer Intervention Paper

Jordan Troxel

According to Breastcancer.org, around 12% of women in the

United States will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives.4
There are a large amount of risk factors for breast cancer, which is one
of the reasons why it is so prevalent. Many of the risk factors cannot be
controlled by an individual woman- these include the following: being
aged 55 or above, Caucasian, having a family history that includes
breast cancer diagnoses, having large breasts, being exposed to toxic
environmental substances, and having a history of benign breast
conditions.1 Currently, there are approximately 2.8 million women in
the United States that have/are battling and surviving breast cancer. 1
So what is breast cancer? Breast cancer occurs when the cells of the
either or both breasts grow out of control. When these cells begin to
multiply rapidly, they can develop into cancerous tumors. 5 The rapidly
growing cells and/or tumors of the breast can develop within the
breasts lobules, ducts, and/or stroma.5 Before the year 2000, breast
cancer was ravaging the United States. Earlier, the Womens Health
Initiative began researching the relationship between hormone
replacement therapy and menopause symptoms and heart disease.
While it was found that heart disease decreased with HRT, it was also
discovered that HRT may lead to an increase in breast cancer. Many

Cancer Intervention Paper

Jordan Troxel

women participated in this study, and because of this, many women in

the United States developed breast cancer.4 An intervention aimed at
preventing and control cancer is finding alternatives to hormone
replacement therapy for menopausal women.2
After the highly popularized, infamous study done by the
Womens Health Initiative was performed, breast cancer rates
increased significantly. At this time, breast cancer treatments and
awareness was low, and it took the general population a while to catch
onto the relationship between breast cancer and hormone replacement
therapy.4 When the negative relationship was discovered, the use of
HRT was lessened and researchers began searching for alternatives.
Alternatives included the use of vitamin E, clonidine, and selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants.3 Thankfully, some of
these alternative products can be bought over-the-counter, which
increases the potential use of them.2 These may not work for each
individual; however, overall, the reduction of HRT created a significant
decrease of breast cancer incidence.4 While it is estimated that in 2016
alone, 246,660 cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed,
researchers are hopeful that they can decrease the incidence and
prevalence rates of breast cancer.4 With a reduction in HRT and an
increase in HRT alternatives, women over the age of 55 and/or women

Cancer Intervention Paper

Jordan Troxel

experiencing menopausal symptoms will hopefully see a decrease in

the risk for breast cancer, thereby decreasing the role of breast cancer
age disparities.

References
1. Breast Cancer Facts and Stats. Cancer Screening & Diagnosis. 2015. Available at:
https://qap.sdsu.edu/screening/breastcancer/facts.html. Accessed March 19, 2016.
2. Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Cancer. National Cancer Institute. 2011. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/hormones/mht-fact-sheet.
Accessed March 20, 2016.
3. Pritchard, K. Hormone Replacement in Women with a History of Breast Cancer. The
Oncologist. 2001. Available at:
http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/6/4/353.full. Accessed March 20, 2016.
4. U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics. Breastcancerorg. 2016. Available at:
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptomsunderstand_bc/statistics. Accessed March 19,
2016.
5. What is breast cancer? American Cancer Society. 2014. Available at:
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-what-is-breastcancer. Accessed March 19, 2016.