Health & Fit This Device Might Help Find Signs of Breast Cancer—but Do You Really Need It?

We’re all afraid of breast cancer. Let’s get that out in the open right off the bat. It's understandable, considering that breast cancer is the leading type of cancer and the second-highest cause of cancer death (after lung cancer) in women.

Naturally, most of us want to do whatever we can to lower our risk of breast cancer or to catch it early, when it’s easiest to treat. That goal has fueled years of debate over when women should start going for regular mammograms and how often to get them. Personally, after years of reporting on breast cancer screening and other medical exams, I'm leery of looking too hard for something—a concept experts call over-testing, which can lead to over-diagnosis.

'Cancer shaped me, but it did not define me': Hoda Kotb on overcoming breast cancer

In a powerful speech Thursday, the TODAY anchor shared how receiving a breast cancer diagnosis served as a wake-up call to make positive changes in her life. You already know TODAY's Hoda Kotb is an absolute force of positive energy. And as the host of this year's annual Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) Symposium and Awards Luncheon in New York City, Hoda brought her signature upbeat spin to a heavy topic: her experience with breast cancer.

Results suggest they someday may help reveal which women need longer preventive therapy and which ones can be spared it . Breast cancer survivors may be tempted to rush out and get it , but doctors say it ’s too soon for that.

And with the emotions and fears it invokes, it may initially be hard for you to take in any of the information you need , or even feel like anyone else really understands what you are going through. So be patient—with yourself and with others. Try to remember: Most women don't die of breast cancer

RELATED: 9 Things to Know Before Your First Mammogram

Now, there's an at-home device that supposedly can give women even more information about their boobs. The device, called the Pink Luminous Breast, is kind of like a high-tech flashlight. When a woman presses it against her skin, a red LED light illuminates her breast tissue. With your boob aglow, you’re supposed to be able to spot clusters of new blood vessels (called angiogenesis) which can, in some cases, be a sign of possible cancer. Should a women spot shadows or clusters when using the device, she can bring that information to a doctor to see if her breasts warrant further testing.

© pinkluminousbreast.com

"We want to inspire an awareness lifestyle,” says Pink Luminous Breast founder Marylin Dans. After having a nodule in her breast removed at age 17, she’s always been extra careful with her breast health, she explains. “I think you should keep it next to your electric toothbrush, turn off the lights, and check yourself every so often. It motivates you to do more self-exams and allows you to feel a little more secure.”

Father and Daughter Who Were Both Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Speak Out: 'We Comfort Each Other'

<p>Although Vanessa and Arnaldo Silva always been close, there is one thing the father and daughter never expected to share: breast cancer.</p>Although they’ve always been close, there is one thing the pair never expected to share: breast cancer.

Finding great breast cancer fundraising ideas is no easy task, but using this list of 10 amazing fundraiser ideas, you can get Luckily, there are many breast cancer fundraising ideas that even just one person can do ! Mammo-grahams will help you out while REALLY getting the message across!

It also has information to help patients cope with breast cancer . Stage I and stage II are early stages of breast cancer , but the cancer has invaded nearby tissue. They may be concerned that breast cancer and its treatment will affect their sexual relationships.

But doctors are skeptical. “I don’t think too many radiologists would recommend this as any sort of screening method,” says Janna Andrews, MD, a breast and gynecological cancer specialist and assistant clinical professor of radiation medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York. Because it’s categorized as a class one medical device by the FDA, it can be sold without the stringent clinical testing required of medical devices that can actually diagnosis or treat a condition, Dr. Andrews explains. “We don’t have any evidence of its efficacy or how it compares to mammography,” she says.

RELATED: 9 Breast Cancer Symptoms That Aren’t Lumps

If illuminating your breast did turn up abnormalities, you'd still need a mammogram to know what those irregularities mean. “This is not under the guidance of anybody who is trained,” says Christine Greves, MD, an ob-gyn at Orlando Health Hospital in Florida. If everything looks all-clear with the device, you might be tempted to skip a visit to the doctor. “It may give a false sense of security," she says. "I wouldn’t want anybody to miss anything.”

Breast cancer symptoms to look out for

There are multiple breast cancer symptoms that women can look out for -- and speak to their doctors about if they’re spotted. More than 40,000 women will be killed by breast cancer this year in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).Women face a one-in-37 chance of dying from the disease, which, according to the ACS, is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women behind lung cancer.Read on to learn about symptoms of the disease.What are some breast cancer signs to be aware of? Many women are diagnosed during a routine mammogram without exhibiting any symptoms, according to Dr.

Know the Breast Cancer Signs . Every woman’s body has a unique ebb and flow, and getting in tune with your own personal rhythm is invaluable for A couple of days ago my left nipple inverted, thought it was weird and tried looking it up but couldn’t find anything so I just left it go because it is back to

There are numerous different signs and symptoms of breast cancer , as well as different tests that can be done to diagnose it . We’ve listed many of these in the article as well as the infographic but the most important thing we need to say is that online information should never be used to replace an

The device could also cause unnecessary concern. “Clinical breast exams are no longer encouraged because of false positives,” Dr. Andrews explains. Monthly breast exams find too many suspicious lumps that turn out to be nothing to worry about. “I have to think that something like this could potentially lead to more false positives as well.”

Instead, experts recommend sticking to routine mammograms and getting familiar with your breasts the old fashioned way–with your hands. If you feel a lump or notice other changes in your breasts, it’s always worth bringing up with a professional. “If you notice something is feeling a little different than it always has, you can inform your doctor about that,” Dr. Greves says. “Just be aware of your breasts so you can be the first one to know if there’s a change.”

RELATED: All the Ways Your Boobs Change as You Age

The Pink Luminous Breast website says the device “is intended to be a breast health familiarity assistance tool,” something that could help you in the process of getting to know your girls. Personally, I don't see the need to spend $149 on a breast health familiarity assistance tool when I have two hands, but Dans disagrees. “I feel awkward doing it—it’s weird to touch yourself,” she says. “What Pink does is it gives you the ability to use a second sense—your eyes—and look underneath your skin.”

Birth control pills still raise breast cancer risk

Taking hormone based contraception such as the birth control pill raises a woman's risk of breast cancer by 20 percent, a new Danish study shows. Even newer lower-dose birth control pills raise a woman's risk of breast cancer, although the actual danger is "quite small," researchers reported Wednesday.Hormone-infused devices such as vaginal rings, implants and some IUDs also appear to raise the risk, although again not by much, the study found.It's a disappointment to doctors who had hoped that lower doses of hormones in both oral and non-pill contraceptives might be safer than older birth control pills.

"In about nine out of ten cases it will not be cancer but a minor condition that can easily be treated." These non-cancerous conditions might be Ross agrees: “If you find breast cancer during a self-exam, it 's likely been present awhile, and would be found sooner during standard screening tests.

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© pinkluminousbreast.com

I decided to give it a hesitant try. After charging the device for a few minutes, I turned off the lights in my bathroom and bumped up the brightness on the Pink Luminous Breast.

The resulting sorta-creepy red illumination made me feel like I was a passenger on Ms. Frizzle's Magic School Bus. I checked out a few different vantage points, pausing as I looked at shadowy veins, all of which seemed pretty normal to me. Still, I found myself becoming a little queasy about peering into my body so intimately. So I powered down the device, feeling more awkward about looking at blood vessels than I do about feeling myself up.

I still have more than a decade to decide when to have my first mammogram. But a mammogram—or at least an appointment with a doctor—is the only way to figure out what to do with the information gleaned from using the Pink Luminous Breast. Trying it out left me wondering what would have happened if I was more of a worrier about my breast cancer risk. Would I have booked an appointment for the following day?

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In most women with an average risk of breast cancer, screening doesn’t start until at least age 40 and sometimes later. But Pink Luminous Breast’s website says women over 25 should start using the device. “Even in a woman with a very high risk of breast cancer, we typically don’t recommend starting screening before age 30,” Dr. Andrews says. That’s because women in their 20s have just a 0.1% risk of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years, according to the American Cancer Society. For women in their 30s, that number rises to just 0.5%. Younger women also have denser breasts, which might obscure the view. “I would have to think it would not be as effective in dense breasts,” Dr. Andrews says.

Breast Cancer: Fewer Women Are Getting Chemotherapy

Researchers surveyed thousands of women with breast cancer and their oncologists and found a decline in the use of chemotherapy as a treatment.The research—published Monday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute—found that even though national treatment recommendations haven’t changed, practices have.

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For now, I'm sticking to old-fashioned, device-free breast familiarity. Both Dr. Andrews and Dr. Greves expressed gratitude that Pink Luminous Breast wants to help women, but they didn't think it built a strong enough case to ignore current standards of care just yet. Bottom line, says Dr. Greves: “We can’t recommend or endorse a product that’s not fully regulated or FDA approved.”

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