Stay diligent about your body More and more young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer

Stay diligent about your body

More and more young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer

    Revati Singh (name changed), 35, was devasted when her doctor told her that her biopsy was positive for breast cancer. The first thing she wanted to know was whether she could be cured. Luckily, her doctor was positive that the mother of two would make a full recovery. But many others are not that lucky. Consultant surgical oncologist Dr Sanjay Sharma says, “Breast cancer originates in the breast tissues and causes cells in the breast to change and grow out of control eventually forming a lump or mass. Risk factors for breast cancer include ageing, radiation exposure, hormonal treatments, heavy alcohol intake, smoking, obesity, family history and even lack of breast feeding. The problem with preventing breast cancer is that there is not one cause that can be pinpointed as being the culprit. Breast cancer awareness has increased thanks to media activity initiated by medical bodies and social groups. The awareness has led to more number of patients coming to us in stage IA or IIB. A large number of these patients are breast conservation mastectomies and require removal of the breast. Awareness has pushed women to come forward more freely and report to doctors for early treatment thus reducing the much dreaded IV stage IIIB cancer. Breast cancer is rapidly becoming the most common cancer in women replacing cervical cancer.”
    Gynaecological cancer specialist Dr Samar Gupte says that awareness for the need of regular check-ups is the key to detect breast cancer early. “Self breast examination is recommended for women in their 20s. It is advisable for women to consult a specialist to learn the right way to do a self examination. Women in their 30s should have a clinical breast examination by a health professional at least once in two to three years and yearly after they turn 40. Women aged 40 and above should have a mammogram yearly,” says Dr Gupte.
    “There are a number of risk factors associated with breast cancer. Certain factors are unchangeable and these include age, genetic factors, family history, dense breast tissue, etc. Other issues include having no children, alcohol intake and hormone replacement therapy which increases the risk. The most common symptom is a new lump or mass. A mass that is painless, hard and has irregular edges is more likely to be cancerous, but breast cancers can be tender, soft or rounded. They can even be painful. For this reason, it is important to have any new mass, lump or breast change checked by a health care professional with experience in diagnosing breast diseases,” adds Dr Gupte. 

MEDIAN AGE OF DIAGNOSIS IS 60 YEARS • 10% of all breast cancer women are diagnosed before they turn 44.
• Around 47% are diagnosed between ages 45 and 64 years.
• About 35% are diagnosed between ages 65 and 85 years. 

OTHER SIGNS OF BREAST CANCER INCLUDE:
• Swelling of all or part of a breast (even if no distinct lump is felt)
• Skin irritation or dimpling
• Breast or nipple pain
• Nipple retraction (turning inward)
• Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
• A nipple discharge other than breast milk
• Sometimes a breast cancer can spread to lymph nodes under the arm or around the collar bone and cause a lump or swelling there, even before the original tumour in the breast tissue is large enough to be felt.
• Pain is a nonspecific symptom in determining the presence or absence of breast cancer, but may be indicative of other breast health issues. 

DIAGNOSIS Diagnosis and earlier detection techniques such as Mammography, Ultrasound, self breast examination using proper techniques, clinical breast examination by a doctor, Fine Needle Biopsy (FNAC) can significantly help reducing the number of incidences of breast cancer in the country. “Many women do not like doing self examination often out of fear of finding cancer. The good thing is that breast cancer is one of the few forms of the disease that can be completely cured or controlled through proper treatments. See a doctor as soon as you notice something abnormal,” adds Dr Sharma. 

TREATMENT The treatment of breast cancer depends on the type of cancer