Prevention Archives - HHO Hunterdon Hematology Oncology

Breast cancer is a very common type of cancer that affects both women and men — but that doesn’t make it any less scary. This type of cancer can strike at any time, which leaves you feeling vulnerable. However, there are steps you can take to detect early signs of the disease.

At Hunterdon Oncology Hematology, we help you not only understand your specific type of cancer, but all of your treatment options as well. Our board-certified team of oncology and hematology specialists also assists you with breast cancer detection through self breast exams.

Why self exams are important

Self breast exams are the number one way you can stay on top of your breast health — and detect changes as early as possible. Although your doctor usually performs these exams once a year, that isn’t enough to stay ahead of cancer.

So how often should you be performing a breast exam? The simple answer is every month. The best time to do this is after your menstrual cycle, because your breast tissue won’t be swollen and sensitive.

If you no longer have a menstrual cycle, your periods are very sporadic, or you’re a man, you can simply pick the same day every month to do your exam. To make it easy, either pick the first day of each month, or a number that’s special to you so you don’t forget.

How to perform a breast exam

A self breast exam involves you visually inspecting your breasts, as well as feeling each breast for any abnormalities. To perform the visual part of your exam, you’ll want to be in front of a mirror, topless and without a bra. Stand with your hands down at your side, and look for:

Changes in size
Changes in shape
Symmetry
Dimpling or puckering
Inverted nipples

You’ll also want to put your hands on your hips, as well as raise your arms over your head to check for any of the above changes. In addition, make sure to lift each breast and inspect the underside for any abnormalities.

Once you’ve performed the visual exam, manually check your breasts with your fingers for any lumps or changes in your breast tissue. You can do this either in the shower or by lying down on a bed or sofa.

Lying down helps you more easily feel for changes because it allows your breast tissue to flatten out, making a lump more discernible. In the shower, it’s also easier to do a breast exam, because your fingers glide more easily over your breast tissue when you’re lathered with soap and water.

Make sure you manually examine each breast completely. Not only does this help you detect any changes, but it also makes you familiar with how each breast feels, so that each month potential abnormalities are easier to find.

Tips to help you with a self exam

Although self breast exams aren’t necessarily difficult, there are some tips you should learn to make the whole experience a lot easier. Tips that help you detect changes in your breast tissue include:

Use the pads of your fingers

The pads of your fingers are pretty sensitive, making them ideal for finding lumps in your breasts. Use your index, middle, and ring fingers to do your manual exam. If you don’t have good feeling in your finger pads, you can also use your palm or back of those three fingers.

Change your level of pressure

Using different levels of pressure allows you to feel the different depths of your breast tissue. Use a lighter touch to feel the top layer of tissue, and use a heavier touch to feel the tissue closer to your chest wall.

Try not to rush

Self exams only take a couple of minutes, and rushing to get the exam done could lead to missed breast tissue changes. Take your time to do it properly.

Use a pattern

Following a certain pattern during your self exam makes your monthly routine go much more smoothly. It also helps you make sure you check every inch of your breast tissue. You could start at your nipple and move outward, or you could begin at your collarbone and work down.

If, during your exam, you notice any abnormal changes in your breast tissue, contact our office as soon as possible to schedule a consultation. Although lumps don’t always mean cancer, it’s best to rule it out rather than wait too long.

If you need more information or have been diagnosed with breast cancer, call our office in Flemington, New Jersey at 908-264-1798 to make an appointment. You can also reach out to us by using our online booking tool.

Colon cancer is the third most common type of cancer in the United States, responsible for 104,610 new cases this year. It can be treatable if you know what to look for and detect it early. And even though it’s not fully preventable, there are steps you can take to lower your risk.

At Hunterdon Oncology and Hematology, we aim to keep you as healthy as possible while treating many types of cancer along the way. Our skilled team of oncologists and hematologists specialize in the most up-and-coming cancer treatments, to help you get your life back on track.

Risk factors for colon cancer

Cancer is a terrible disease that can attack at any age. While maintaining a healthy lifestyle helps to decrease your risk, you can’t change things like your family history, genetics, and age. Risk factors you can change include:

Obesity
Low-fiber, high-fat diet
Sedentary lifestyle
Smoking
Drinking alcohol

The above risks could eventually lead to gene mutations, setting you up for a tumor in your intestine. Many times, tumors start from a polyp in the lining of your colon. At some point, the cells in the polyp start to divide uncontrollably, becoming cancer cells.

These polyps can be found during routine colonoscopy screenings, and removed before they turn into colon cancer. That’s why the CDC recommends regular screenings for men and women from age 50 to age 75.

Symptoms to look out for

In the early stages of colon cancer, you might not have any symptoms. This definitely makes it hard for anyone to figure out that something’s wrong. However, as the cancer progresses, symptoms become more apparent. Symptoms in the earlier stages of colon cancer include:

Abdominal cramps
Diarrhea
Constipation
Bloating
Bloody stools

You may also notice a change in your bowel movements, including narrow stools or different colored stools than normal. As the disease progresses, your symptoms become more apparent. Late stage symptoms include:

Vomiting
Fatigue
Weakness
Weight loss

Changes in your stool at this stage last longer than a few weeks, and you might also feel as though your bowels don’t empty the whole way. Getting help as soon as you notice problems helps to increase the likelihood that treatment is successful.

5 tips to reduce your risk

Cancer definitely isn’t something that can be entirely prevented. However, you can make lifestyle changes that greatly decrease your chances of getting certain cancers, including colon cancer. The following are five steps you can take to reduce your risk:

1. Stop smoking

Smoking negatively impacts your health because of the toxins within the smoke. It can weaken your immune system, making it more difficult to ward off cancer cells. If you smoke, you’re more likely to develop colon cancer than someone who doesn’t. Quitting decreases your risk. If you need help quitting, reach out to our team, and we can help.

2. Get regular exercise

Along with its other added benefits of staying lean and fit, just 30 minutes a day of exercise can decrease your chances of developing colon cancer.

3. Eat healthy

According to the American Cancer Society, eating healthy foods like whole grains and vegetables reduces your risk of colon cancer. You should limit red meat intake, like beef and lamb, along with processed meats. A healthy diet paired with exercise is an easy step to take to ward off colon cancer.

4. Limit alcohol

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, alcohol is a carcinogen. Their studies show that overconsumption of alcoholic beverages increases your risk of developing colon cancer. On average, if you’re a man you should have no more than two drinks per day; a woman should only have one drink per day.

5. Maintain a healthy weight

Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing colon cancer by 30%. This is due to the increased fat content in your body. A sedentary lifestyle leads to excess pounds, so getting active and modifying your diet will help cut your risk significantly.

One of the most important steps you can take to limit your risk for this disease is to get screened regularly. Our doctors will discuss with you how often you need to be screened, depending on if you’re at an average risk or a higher risk. Screening is the first line of defense, as it allows our team to find early signs of cancer and eliminate the problem.

If you’re interested in learning more about reducing your risk for colon cancer, call our office in Flemington, New Jersey at 908-264-1798 to schedule a consultation. You can also reach out to us by using our online booking tool.

What is PSA, and what is a PSA test?

PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen; it is a protein produced by the prostate gland. It is produced both by normal as well as malignant prostate gland cells. The PSA test is a blood test which measures the amount or level of PSA in a man’s blood. Because the PSA level tends to be elevated when a man has prostate cancer, the PSA test has been viewed as an important, but not completely determinative, indicator for the presence of prostate cancer. The final determination of whether prostate cancer is present will depend on the outcome of a digital rectal exam (DRE), possibly imaging tests, and ultimately on a prostate biopsy.

Multiple tests are generally required because other, benign conditions can also cause elevated PSA levels. Two of these frequently occurring, non-cancerous conditions include prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (enlargement of the prostate). Presence of either of these does not rule out the existence of cancer, however, so further tests will still be called for to make a final diagnosis.

Does the PSA test determine whether cancer exists?

At one time, the PSA test, together with the DRE, were considered as providing a close to definitive determination of the existence of cancer. PSA results above 4.0ng/mL were regarded as “elevated” and would indicate the need for a prostate biopsy to make a final determination of the presence or absence of cancer.

More recent studies have cast some doubt on that iron-clad sureness. More recent research has demonstrated that some men with PSA levels below 4.0 ng/mL can have cancer, and that many men with elevated levels of PSA do not have cancer. So: what to do? While there are conflicting studies, the overall results indicate that, in general, the higher the PSA level, the greater the risk for cancer. Also, an ongoing, steady rise in PSA level over time is an indicator of elevated prostate cancer risk.

Because of these findings, the new wisdom is “watch and wait.” That is, if the PSA level is “elevated”, the new wisdom is to do PSA tests at regular intervals to see if it remains elevated, or if it continues to rise. If it does, then further tests may be called for, such as a DRE to check for a suspicious lump, and/or imaging tests such as a transrectal ultrasound, x-rays, or cystoscopy.

A final diagnosis still requires a prostate biopsy. This is a surgical procedure during which several samples of prostate tissue are extracted via insertion and withdrawal of hollow needles into the prostate gland. The extracted tissue samples are examined by a pathologist in a laboratory to determine whether or not cancerous cells exist in the prostate.

Does the PSA test have any limitations?

The primary limitation of the PSA test is that even when the PSA level is elevated, and a biopsy is performed, only 25% of men turn out to have prostate cancer. In other words, the PSA test is accurate only 25% of the time. So, by itself, the PSA test is simply not enough. More tests are required to make a final, accurate determination.

Further, sometimes small, slow-growing cancerous tumors are detected. They grow so slowly that they only rarely threaten the patient’s life. Sometimes these tumors are treated unnecessarily via surgery or radiation treatment; this is called “overtreatment”. In this case the patient is subjected unnecessarily to the risks of serious, life-altering side-effects such as urinary incontinence (difficulty or inability to control urine flow), bowel function problems, erectile dysfunction (E.D.), which means difficulty having or maintaining erections, or having erections that are inadequate for sex.

Sometimes, the PSA test can yield what are called “false-positive” results, which means that the PSA level result appears to indicate a significant risk of cancer, but in fact no cancer is present. This can subject the patient and his family unnecessarily to high levels of anxiety and can cause the patient to undergo unnecessary follow-up procedures such as a biopsy, which can bring serious side-effects such as pain, bleeding, and infections.

The opposite case can also happen, which is called a “false-negative” result. In this case, the PSA test levels are low, indicating that no cancer is present, when in fact a cancerous tumor is present. This can give the patient and his family false reassurance and a plan for no further treatment, when in fact the patient requires further treatment.

As you might have concluded, the PSA test situation, in isolation, is complex and somewhat cloudy. It is all-important that you find a top-notch urologist and prostate oncologist to have on your treatment team, and they need to be intimately familiar with the state-of-the-art research findings as well as treatment options. Only through consultation with both doctors will you be able to come up with an appropriate diagnosis procedure and comprehensive treatment plan.

A mammogram is an important step in taking care of yourself and your breasts. Women trust Hunterdon Hematology Oncology as part of the Hunterdon Regional Breast Care Program (HRBCP) with regular mammograms and their overall breast health.

The mammograms done at one of several affiliated facilities use a digital format instead of the traditional film mammography you may be used to. This allows the mammogram to be available immediately. A digital image can also be altered and enhanced to allow a more accurate diagnosis and decreases the need for repeat imaging. This information can then be quickly assessed by your medical oncologist at Hunterdon Hematology Oncology and also other potential members of your breast care team which may include a breast surgeon.

Below are some things to expect when getting your mammogram: :

You’ll have to undress above the waist to get a mammogram. You will be given wia wrap to use for your comfort.
For your privacy, you and a nurse are the only ones in the room during the procedure.
During the procedure, the nurse will position your breasts for the mammogram. They will have to flatten your breast on the machine’s plate so that a high-quality digital picture can be obtained..
Due to use of digital imaging, the procedure is much quicker and, you will have limited discomfort compared to a film mammogram. Let your nurse know immediately if you are experiencing any discomfort.

Many of our patients aren’t aware that you should not wear deodorant when getting a mammogram. Most deodorants and antiperspirants contain aluminum. Aluminum blocks your sweat ducts and prevents you from perspiring. The amount of aluminum in the average bar of deodorant is small, however, even a small amount is enough to interfere with a mammogram.

Aluminum particles in deodorant look like tiny white dots on a mammogram. These dots mimic calcifications, which can be an early sign of breast cancer. Aluminum particles make it difficult to distinguish deodorant aluminum from calcifications.

Regular mammograms are important for your breast health. Here at Hunterdon Hematology Oncology we are happy, as part of the Hunterdon Regional Breast Care program, to ensure that our patients have this coordinated quickly and with ease.

Contact your medical oncologist for any concerns or questions regarding your mammogram. Our staff is also happy to help our patients schedule at one of several local imaging facilities, contact us today.

HHO News

It’s Never Too Early to Check for Breast Cancer: Tips for Self Exams