Laura Baxter of Pleasant Grove, Utah, is 41. This March she walked into a clinic for her very first mammogram — a screening that found stage 0 breast cancer and led to the discovery of a second, harder-to-detect tumor. Her experience has become one more early-detection story in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
After entering her 40s, Baxter decided to get screened for the first time. The mammogram found ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): cancerous cells confined to the lining of the milk ducts, with no invasion into surrounding tissue — a non-invasive, stage 0 cancer.
Baxter's family history is heavy: both her grandmother and great-grandmother had breast cancer and underwent mastectomies. She watched them endure treatment.
Because of that history, she chose a double mastectomy instead of just removing the lesion. During surgery, doctors found a second tumor: invasive lobular carcinoma. Her doctors told her this type of cancer is harder to detect on scans because of the way it grows and forms.
The second diagnosis moved her from stage 0 to stage 1. But because the cancer was caught early, it was completely removed. She called her outcome a "best case scenario."
After surgery, Baxter had genetic testing, which showed she carries two cancer-causing genes (the article did not name the types). That means she must now watch for pancreatic and ovarian cancer risk, and the men in her family for prostate cancer risk.
She said one key reason for the testing was her two children: so they would have the information as they grow up.
Baxter offers two pieces of advice for women with a family history. First, start screening ten years before the youngest diagnosis in the family — she was diagnosed at 41, so her sisters and daughter should start at 31. Second, trust your body and advocate for yourself.
Her experience is no surprise to medicine. The American Cancer Society and other groups recommend women begin annual mammograms at age 40; for high-risk people with family history, screening is generally advised ten years before the age at which the youngest affected relative was diagnosed. Utah ranks last of all 50 states in the share of insured women over 40 getting screened.
KSL reported her story about seven months after that first mammogram. Her message is the same one she keeps repeating: don't wait until your body sends a signal to get checked.