What Women Can Learn About Breast Cancer from Sandra Lee

When Sandra Lee, the 48-year-old celebrity chef, announced recently that she had breast cancer, it was a reminder to women that it’s important to start getting regular mammograms before the age of 50.

The American Cancer Society recommends that women at 40 years of age start getting a mammogram once a year.

“One point being stressed is that she is younger than 50 and went for screening, something which has become much more controversial,” said Erna Busch-Devereaux, MD, chief of breast surgery at Huntington Hospital. “I am still an advocate for screening at 40, because we do start seeing breast cancers occurring in this age bracket. For women with family histories or other risk factors, we might even start earlier than that.”

Ms. Lee said she had an lumpectomy and will be getting a double mastectomy. Based on what Dr. Busch-Devereaux has read, “It seems that she either had a problem with a positive margin that requires more surgery, or that she didn’t want radiation which are two of the reasons women sometimes choose a mastectomy.”

There also seems to be a trend of more women getting double mastectomies.

“While removing the opposite breast does not improve the outcome for her diagnosed cancer, it does lower the risk for additional new cancers,” Dr. Busch-Devereaux said. “It eliminates the need for radiation if the cancer is early (DCIS or stage I), and eliminates the need for hormonal therapy (if ER+ DCIS). Obviously it is devastating to be diagnosed with breast cancer, so women are choosing bilateral mastectomies as a prevention to avoid having another new cancer from occurring.”