Breast Cancer: Only Early Detection can Save Lives

As the breast cancer awareness month comes to an end, one can only hope that efforts put into the campaign worldwide will bear fruit as the medical experts still grapple to establish the unknown cause of breast cancer.

Do you know In India, around 20-30 women per 100,000 population develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. A recent study of breast cancer risk revealed that 1 in 28 Indian women develop the disease during their lifetime.

While the breast cancer rate is much higher in the United States at one in eight women, the survival rate is also much higher. For instance, the five-year survival rate for Indian women is about 60 percent. In developed countries, it is 79-85 percent. Additionally, studies have shown that Indian women develop breast cancer roughly a decade earlier than women in Western countries.

This is a frightening figure. Isn’t it a shocking fact that breast cancer which is a so-called western disease has such a huge prevalence in India?

According to a study by Michigan University,’ only about 27 percent of patients are diagnosed in the early stages of breast cancer in India. The majority of patients are diagnosed in later or advanced stages, and they survived from about one to two-and-a-half years after diagnosis and treatment.

‘When a lady ends up with breast cancer, there is very little that a doctor can do. Normally they get diagnosed late in India,’ Dr. Sidharth Sahni , a breast and oncoplastic surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi tells Turacoz team. He further explained that there are a lot of factors contributing to the delayed detection such as

•           Most of the women do not know about breast self examination.

•           If suspicious delay going to a doctor either scared or ignorant

•           Women try alternative medicine like Ayurveda or homeopathy without consulting the experts.

•           Heredity is responsible in only 10% of cases whereas 90% of diagnosed cases are random with no risk factors.

Giving a shocking figure of its prevalence, Dr. Sahni says, ‘In Delhi the risk of breast cancer according to the Govt. reports are 1 in 28 women whereas in actual practice the incidence is still higher (1 in 16 women) and continuing to increase at an alarming rate.’

Focusing on the solutions he mentioned that celebrity endorsing the campaign could make a difference and make women aware about breast cancer. In TOI in 2012 there was a “Think Pink Campaign” but it didn’t get repeated and there is very little awareness about the detection aspect. It is still considered to a western disease.

Rural women and those who don't have as much access to health care may simply have trouble getting to the doctor in a timely manner. On the other hand, urban and higher-income women may be juggling career and family obligations and think the delay will not affect them. Obesity and lack of physical exercise, smoking and drinking alcohol may contribute to the disease.

What are the solutions?

• Improved medical curriculum with focus on  disease prevention (early detection is the best protection)

• Medical students as graduates and postgraduates should be taught about self breast examination and how to teach the technique

• Women should be made aware that any breast related problem, you need go to a surgeon and not a gynecologist.

• Adequate insurance cover for diagnosis and treatment as the diagnostic and therapeutic options are very costly and many women from low socio-economic status may not be able to afford it.

• Formation of advisory panel which can relook into the existing  policy and advocate the changes required seeing the prevalence of the disease.Any policy cannot be implemented without the support and approval of the government. Breast cancer should be included as a serious health issue and health programs for screening should be initiated.

Finally everything said and done,’ Breast cancer in your breast doesn’t kill you; the disease becomes deadly when it metastasizes, spreading to other organs or the bones. So be aware about the disease and make others aware too. You are never too young to have screenings. ‘Early Detection is the Best Protection.’

Most women have more than one known risk factor for developing breast cancer. The risk factor could start from

•           Being a woman

•           Getting older

•           Having a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 breast cancer genes

•           Having a personal history of breast or ovarian cancer

•           Having a family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer

•           Having high breast density on a mammogram

•           Having a previous biopsy showing hyperplasia or carcinoma in situ

•           Never having children

•           Having your first child after age 35

•           Radiation exposure, frequent x-rays in youth

•           High bone density

•           Gaining weight after menopause

•           Currently or recently using combined estrogen and progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Please don't wait for symptoms to present. Early Detection is the BEST Protection!

Get regular checkups and do self exams. Nobody knows your body like you do. You have to fight for the best treatment and care. Do not consider yourself a statistic. You have choices...choose to be POSITIVE. A positive attitude has everything to do with it!