Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Before It Gets Worse!

If you asked a random woman on the street if she could mention any serious disease, most of them will say Coronavirus Disease. As we are currently facing this pandemic and how it has influenced our life, we might be too-occupied and detracted our awareness of any other health issues which might be worse than COVID-19.

Celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Months, we would like to recall and remind us to one of the contributors for thousands cancer-related deaths among women. So, what is that? Breast cancer is when there is an abnormal growth of the cells in breast tissue. To be underlined, it can happen in both men and women with the prevalence in women is found higher. In 2019, approximately 268,000 cases in women and 2,670 cases in men were found. This is a very high number and yet our attention to this problem was mediocre.

The symptoms are vary for each and some may have no significant manifestations. Actually, when the tumor is still small yet undetectable, it could be easily treated. But the truth is, most women are diagnosed during their last stage and require further interventions. There is no significant risk of screening, thus, women are all indeed encouraged to do early and immediate screening especially for those who have risks such as a family history of breast cancer.

Most people assume that it is unnecessary to do early screening when they don’t have any symptoms or simply they don’t notice that yet. The most common way of screening is by doing mammography: a low dose x-ray image of the breast. Early detection by mammography will find the abnormal lump and help to determine the best treatment. A study shows that by performing mammography, it reduces 20% the number of deaths. Nowadays, there are many affordable mammography we can afford easily which are provided by the government and also some other organizations. This shows the importance of early detection among us.

As some might feel uncomfortable to do the screening since you have to bare your breast to strangers, there is an alternative way. You can do self-screening breast cancer known as breast self-exam (BSE), there is no equipment needed and very convenient. There are several steps already provided in the guideline which you can find on the internet handily. It is suggested for us to do this regularly. When you find any lump or abnormalities, don’t be panic and go see the doctor. The earlier it is detected, the easier it will be to cure.

So, what makes you doubt on doing early detection?

Early detection is always better, before it gets worse!

References

1. American Cancer Society. Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2019-2020. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, Inc. 2019.
2. Anastasiadi Z, Lianos GD, Ignatiadou E, Harissis HV, Mitsis M. Breast cancer in young women: an overview. Updates Surg. 2017 Sep;69(3):313-317. doi: 10.1007/s13304-017-0424-1. Epub 2017 Mar 4. PMID: 28260181.
3. Anderson BO, Lipscomb J, Murillo RH, et al. Breast Cancer. In: Gelband H, Jha P, Sankaranarayanan R, et al., editors. Cancer: Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 3). Washington (DC): The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank; 2015 Nov 1. Chapter 3. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK343636/?report=classic doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0349-9_ch3
4. Cancer.org. 2020. Survival Rates For Breast Cancer. [online] Available at: <https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/understanding-a-breast-cancer-diagnosis/breast-cancer-survival-rates.html> [Accessed 27 September 2020].
5. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Cancer-Preventive Interventions. Breast cancer screening. Lyon (FR): International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2016. 1. Breast Cancer. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546553/?report=classic
6. World Health Organization. 2020. Breast Cancer: Prevention And Control. [online] Available at: <https://www.who.int/cancer/detection/breastcancer/en/index5.html> [Accessed 27 September 2020].

Writer: Nurul Izzah – Peer Educator Trainer