Common Breast Cancer Questions, Answered By Doctors

Breast Cancer Research Foundation researchers delve into misconceptions about GLP-1s, HRT, IVF, and more

Key Takeaways

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation hosted a webinar to answer common breast cancer questions.
BCRF researchers Drs. Veronica Jones and Evanthia Roussos Torres debunked myths surrounding trending topics.
Here’s what they want patients to know.

Figuring out what’s fact versus fiction in the world of AI and social media is no easy feat. So, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) hosted a webinar, “Myth vs. Medicine: Navigating Breast Cancer Information Today,” to help set the record straight on common breast cancer questions, with the help of BCRF researchers.

Joined by Sadia Zapp, BCRF’s Managing Director, Content and Communications, and breast cancer thriver, were two BCRF investigators: breast surgeon Dr. Veronica Jones and medical oncologist Dr. Evanthia Roussos Torres. The doctors answered viewer-submitted questions about breast cancer and spoke on trending topics such as GLP-1s, fertility, and hormone replacement therapy. Here’s what they want you to know to ensure you get the best care.

Does IVF increase breast cancer risk?

BCRF researcher Dr. Virginia Borges answered this question last month: “We have lots of evidence to show that going through IVF to achieve the family a woman wants does not increase her risk for getting breast cancer. Moreover, we have very important data from the POSITIVE trial that shows that women who want to have a child after they have been treated for an estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer can pause their endocrine therapy and become pregnant and then go back on their endocrine therapy. And if they use IVF to achieve that pregnancy, it does not increase their risk of facing a recurrence. So we have both bookends to know that IVF is OK.”

What are the most powerful ways to reduce the risk of breast cancer and breast cancer recurrence?

“There isn’t one thing that we should all be doing or not doing. It’s really [about living] a healthy life: Maintain a healthy weight (especially after menopause), regular physical activity, and then something my mom always used to say: Everything in moderation. That includes things like alcohol and certainly avoiding smoking,” Dr. Roussos Torres said.

Do GLP-1 medications increase the risk of breast cancer?

“As of now, there’s really no clear signal that GLP-1 drugs increase the risk of breast cancer. This is something we are heavily researching,” Dr. Roussos Torres said.

Should I get a full-body scan?

“One limitation of full-body scans is that they are a bit general. If you have a specific complaint, usually your care provider will order the test that is best suited to investigate that complaint,” Dr. Jones said. “If you have something new in your breast, the answer would not be a full-body scan. It may be a targeted ultrasound. It may be an MRI. Your care provider would be able to guide you toward the appropriate screening test for you.”

Should I get a liquid biopsy?

“Little fragments of tumor-specific DNA can be found in the bloodstream. It can actually identify minimal residual disease. The idea is that the lead times would be much sooner—months, as opposed to years—to look for metastatic recurrence. The main issue at the moment is we do not have standardized management protocols. How often we should check for this? What is the threshold at which it’s positive? What is the intervention timing like if we detect it? We don’t have good guidelines as of yet,” explained Dr. Roussos Torres. “There are a lot of clinical trials trying to help come up with these guidelines, and I’m always happy to try and find that for my patients.”

Is a double mastectomy better than a lumpectomy when it comes to reducing recurrence?

“This is a very individual decision,” said Dr. Jones. “We take into consideration so many factors when we are deciding the best surgical approach, such as your risk of a future development of cancer, how the cancer was detected, the size of it, biomarkers, the profile of the cancer. It is not that a double mastectomy is always better than a lumpectomy. We understand now that more is not always what’s best for the individual. Our lumpectomies plus radiation have comparable survival to a mastectomy, and in some cases, may be the preferred approach. It really does depend on the person and on the tumor.”

Does prostate cancer in a first-degree relative merit concern when it comes to breast cancer?

“Any family history of cancer, no matter what kind it is, is something that we closely pay attention to. We’re always discovering different inherited mutations. There are a lot that actually increase the risk of multiple types of cancers. Prostate cancer is one that we pay close attention to,” Dr. Roussos Torres said.

Is it OK to do hormone replacement therapy (HRT)?

“It’s not the same answer for everyone,” said Dr. Roussos Torres. “This is a conversation that has to be based on who you are. Have you had breast cancer? Are you at high risk? Or do you have the same average risk [as] the population, in which case systemic hormone replacement therapy might be fine? The misinformation is that there’s a blanket answer for every woman.”

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