Julia Bradbury has discussed how her breast tumour was missed on two mammograms before her cancer diagnosis.
The TV presenter, 53, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a slideshow of videos of herself getting mammograms as she detailed her diagnosis struggles.
She told how she has dense breast tissue, which means cancerous tumours are more difficult to see on a mammogram, leading to hers being missed during two scans.
Dense breast tissue, calcifications and tumours all appear as white areas in the mammogram, making it harder to differentiate between the two.
Women with dense breast tissue may also have a higher risk of developing breast cancer because there are more cells that may become cancerous, according to the NHS.
Struggles: Julia Bradbury has discussed how her breast tumour was missed on two mammograms before her cancer diagnosis
Julia shared a picture of her own mammogram to demonstrate the issue doctors were faced with, telling how it was a year before she was diagnosed with cancer.
The TV star was eventually diagnosed with the disease in September 2021 before undergoing a mastectomy to have her 6cm tumour removed.
Sharing snaps of the scan as well as herself getting a mammogram, Julia wrote: ‘Women with dense breast tissue may have a higher risk of developing breast cancer because there are more cells that can become cancerous.
‘I have dense breasts. What does that mean? It means cancerous tumours are more difficult to see on a mammogram.
‘One doctor described it as looking for a snow flake in a snow storm. My tumour was missed on two separate occasions when I went for a mammogram to investigate a lump I could feel in my left breast.
‘It took an ultrasound and an entire year to finally confirm my diagnosis. On #WorldDenseBreastDay, let’s raise awareness about the challenges of dense breasts and emphasise the importance of seeking supplementary screenings.
‘Explore medically-sourced educational resources and know your options. Follow or search #WorldDenseBreastDay to find out more.
‘What are dense breasts? Dense breasts: where a higher proportion of the breasts are made up of glandular tissue and fibrous tissue than fatty tissue.
‘Spread the word and stay informed x.’
Scans: The TV presenter, 53, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a slideshow of videos of herself getting mammograms as she detailed her diagnosis struggles
Diagnosis: She told how she has dense breast tissue, which appears as white on a mammogram like a tumour would, meaning her cancer was more difficult to diagnose
Long process: Julia, who recently had her 6cm tumour removed, how it was a year before she was diagnosed with cancer as she spread awareness for the issue amid her own cancer battle
It comes after Julia revealed that she sleeps with her mouth taped shut every night to make herself breath through her nose.
The presenter, 53, candidly detailed her night time ritual that she practices religiously every night to improve her sleeping habits amid her breast cancer battle.
Julia told BBC Radio Wales: ‘We all breathe too fast and we tend to breath through our mouths, and that’s not good for our health.
‘The best thing you can do for your health is too learn how to breathe through your nose and some people will go “I can’t breath through my nose, it’s blocked”.
‘There’s a nose-blocking exercise which helps you with that, the more you sleep breath through your nose the better you get at it.
‘I sleep with a tape, a tiny little thin tape, across my mouth at night to encourage me at night to breathe through my nose.
‘It’s just a little tiny bit of tape that goes from underneath my nose to underneath my bottom lip. And it just means it promotes my nasal breathing during the night.’
Routine: It comes after Julia revealed that she sleeps with her mouth taped shut every night to make herself breath through her nose
Julia, who has written a book called Walk Yourself Happy after overcoming her cancer diagnosis, added that you can practice during the day if you get nervous.
She continued: ‘Put a little tape on whilst your sitting at your laptop and see how you feel.’
Health experts claim breathing out your nose filters out particles of dust, allergens and pollen and warms and moisturises the air, making it easier for your lungs and improves oxygen circulation through the body.
Breathing through the mouth has been linked too allergic reactions, asthma, tooth decay, gum inflammation, sleep apnea and teeth or jaw abnormalities.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?
What is breast cancer?
It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
- Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.
How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.
- Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
- Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
- Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
- Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How successful is treatment?
The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.
The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000
