Breast Cancer Screening

Do I need to do a monthly breast self-exam?

This is one of those questions that you really have to decide for yourself. Three separate studies have shown that women who practice breast self-exams (BSE) find more benign breast conditions than women who do not perform BSE do. However, the studies found that the rate of breast cancer diagnoses was the same in both groups, and there was no difference in breast cancer death rates. In general, women who choose to practice BSE also make other health-conscious choices, and, as a result, have lower all-cause mortality than women who do not make healthy-living choices. That is, these women are less likely to die from breast cancer, but they are also less likely to die from heart disease, accidents, or other causes. On average, there is no evidence to show that BSE either helps or harms women who practice it. So, the choice is simply up to you.