Myths and facts

No credible study has found a link between deodorants or antiperspirants and breast cancer. The rumour grew out of a chain of unfounded claims about aluminium and lymph nodes.

There is no scientific evidence that bras affect the risk of breast cancer. The type, fit or underwire of your bra does not influence the disease.

Risk rises with age, but breast cancer can strike at any age, including in your twenties and thirties. Young women can and do get breast cancer.

The opposite is often true. Cancerous lumps are frequently painless. Any new, persistent lump — painful or not — deserves a professional check.

Some cancers never form a lump a hand can feel. Skin dimpling, nipple discharge or an inverted nipple can be early signs, which is why imaging matters.

All cells use sugar to make energy, including cancer cells. Nothing has shown that eating sugar makes cancer grow faster. A balanced diet supports your health during treatment.

The radiation dose of a modern screening mammogram is tiny — around the same as a few months of natural background exposure. The benefit of early detection outweighs the risk by far.

Biopsies are done with needles designed to avoid spreading cells, and decades of evidence show they do not worsen the outlook. The risk is theoretical, not real.

No herbal or “natural” remedy has ever been shown to treat breast cancer. Some supplements can even interfere with treatment — always tell your team everything you take.

Men have breast tissue, so they can develop breast cancer — around 1 in 100 breast cancers occurs in a man. It is treated the same way and found later, because it is rarely expected.