The good news about the HALO test!

Last week we blogged about the HALO Breast Pap test covering the how to, who to and why to.  Today we will discuss what the results mean and what to do about it.  That's the good news about the test.  We have a plan if you find out that you are high risk and we can help you reduce that risk.

We have known for more than 20 years that atypical ductal cells are different from normal ductal cells and that women whose breasts make these atypical ductal cells are at increased risk for breast cancer.  The pathologist can tell which kind of ductal cells are in the specimen and then we can estimate breast cancer risk for that individual.  Women with atypia and no family history have been found to have 3-4x more breast cancers in the next 15 years.  Women with atypia and a mother, daughter or sister with breast cancer may have 10x more breast cancers in the next 15 years when compared to the risk of women without atypia and family history.  


Fortunately, the majority of women don't have atypia; but the HALO allows us to find those few women who do and to intervene before the cancer happens.


The intervention may be both nonprescription and prescription.  Be lean, be active, exercise, more cruciform vegetables...you all remember the benefits of a healthy lifestyle from the previous blogs.  The prescription that may be offered is tamoxifen, but this is a medication that has risks and benefits, so we only offer it to those few women for whom the benefits far exceed the risks.  Estimates are that about 5 million women in the US may benefit from taking this estrogen receptor blocker, because it reduces the risk of getting breast cancer in appropriately selected patients by 50%.


Imagine that you can find out something about yourself, that you are at high risk, and that we can offer something to you to reduce that risk!  Call us at 512-451-5788 or find a doctor near you at http://www.halohc.com/doctorfinder/doctorfinder.aspx.


Together we can prevent 75,000 breast cancer cases each year!


This content is general medical information and not personal medical advice.