Risk assessments, self-exams important for women too young for mammograms

The guidelines call for women to begin screening for breast cancer with mammograms at age 40.

However, an East Falls resident says it's never too early to be aware of the disease.

Annie Miyazaki-Grant was stunned when her sister Marissa found a lump in her breast.

"So that night in the shower, I did a self-exam and discovered a lump in my breast as well," she recalls.

The 39-year-old Annie soon learned she had an aggressive cancer in both breasts.

Friendship with two doctors at Fox Chase Cancer Center led the longtime New Yorker to choose treatment in Philadelphia.

She wanted a more peaceful, green environment, in a facility focusing only on cancer.

"A place that I could go, where all the services, the care team was patient-centered and also everything was in one location," Annie says.

Fox Chase Cancer Center surgeon Andrea Porpiglia says self-exams are important at all ages.

"It's a very easy tool. A lot of patients who come in my office have felt the mass themselves," Dr. Porpiglia says.

"Mammograms aren't as sensitive for women under 40," she adds.

She says it's very important for younger women also need to know if they are high risk:

*Have they had cancer or radiation treatment of the chest?

*Have any close relatives had breast or ovarian cancer under age 40, or colon or pancreatic cancer under age 50?

Annie and her sister don't have any genetic mutations, but some people do.

"We used to screen for BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, but now our panels are anywhere from 30 to 70 genes, depending on the family history," the doctor says.

Dr. Porpiglia also urges 3D mammograms for yearly screenings, because they show more detail.

"If we see an area of abnormality, we're able to scroll through that area more specifically. Is it just breast tissue that's compressed upon itself? Or is it truly a mass?" she says.

Annie says good support makes such a big difference in getting through treatment and thriving afterward.

She and her sister helped each other through treatment.

And her husband didn't flinch when she ran a half-marathon six weeks after a double mastectomy.

"It was something that helped me move forward and keep pushing myself to move forward,"

Giving back is very important, says Annie.

She volunteers now as a Fox Chase patient advisor, urging everyone not to put off screenings or care, especially women.

As she says, you don't have anything without your health.