Susan Johnson

This month and all year long, I'm committed to fighting for those affected by breast cancer here in Connecticut. We will never stop working to find cures, address the needs of patients and their families, and make treatments affordable.
 
Dr. Stephen Hauser, a radiology oncology specialist at Hartford Healthcare, joined me on “Let’s Talk About It” to discuss breast cancer awareness. We discussed how cancer begins, the importance of routine mammograms, and the different stages of breast cancer.

Our conversation took us to the genesis of cancer. Normally, a cell functions and grows correctly because its DNA is working properly with all the genes in their normal state. I cancerous cell has had a number of these genes mutated. Researchers are looking into whether several genes are altered at once or if one important gene is changed.
 
Doctors use mammograms to look for early signs of breast cancer. It’s important for women to begin discussing getting baseline mammograms around the age of 40 especially if there is a family history of breast cancer. Your risk of breast cancer increases if your mother, sister, or any close relatives have or had either breast or ovarian cancer. Thankfully, advanced technology has improved a doctor’s ability to detect cancer. If a doctor identifies cancer early, the survival rate increases dramatically.

There are four stages of breast cancer, and doctors need to know this information to make ensure they are applying the correct treatment to a patient. Stage 1 is a small cancer, typically caught early with a very high cure rate. Stage 4 is a more extensive cancer with spread to other parts of the body. Dramatic advances in technology have allowed patients to keep their cancer under control for much longer than just five or ten years ago.
 
Dr. Hauser and I discussed many other topics such as breast cancer treatment including radiation and chemotherapy. Please click the video below to listen to the entire show!

Dr. Stephen Hauser discusses breast cancer awareness.