Half-truths make breast cancer detection difficult: Wellness watch

Half-truths make breast cancer detection difficult: Wellness watch

Reported June 22, 2008

Half-truth is statement that mingles truth and falsehood with deliberate intent to deceive. If not anything else, it creates a set of misunderstandings that arise from kernels of truth, which are distorted to become sweeping statements that are not true. Because they are based on the truth, such half-truths become the most ubiquitous and persistent misunderstandings.

You’d sure wonder what I am trying to get at with such an elaborate description of a term which does not find usage much too often in our daily lives. Well, I chose this word because most of the serious health issues which we know of, often get bogged down in half-truths.

And with disastrous consequences. Let me explain this with an example. A friend of mine, who is a chain smoker, dismissed the possibility of contracting cancer by saying that her grandfather smoked, drank and was overweight, but still lived up to 96. To top it all, her final argument was: “Everyone has to die of something”.

The connect with half-truths can’t be more glaring. But to counter her logic, yes, the likes of her grandfather undeniably exist, but don’t forget, they are rare. And, of course, death is inevitable. But a life of protracted ill-health is not. Nor does death not need to be slow, painful or premature. That said, I am sure most of you would agree that chronic diseases are preventable, and treatable, provided you take timely action and don’t fall prey to half-truths and misconceptions.

I would specifically take the case of breast cancer which has already become a big health concern in India. It is the most common cancer to affect women and the incidence is rising in India. According to studies, in India, women in the age group of 43-46 years get breast cancer, against 53-57 years in the West. It is also predicted that the number of new cases in India by the year 2015 will rise to 2-2.5 lakh per year. What’s worse, urban women face a greater risk of developing breast cancer and one out of 8-10 women in Delhi and the NCR alone is likely to get the disease in her lifetime.

Now, even as the incidence level is alarming, many cancer specialist say they are intrigued to see many cases when mothers don’t report lumps or any abnormality because they want their daughters to be married off first. True, inheritance plays a big role in breast cancer, but under-reporting makes the matter only worse.

And not to forget, cancer is treatable only when detected in the first stage. In India, unfortunately, most cancer cases are detected only in the second or third stage, when chances of both treatment and patient recovery get remote.
 

Doctors shatter the myths around the disease by confirming that every woman is at some risk for breast cancer, though there are many risk factors that can make one woman’s picture differ substantially from another’s. Growing older is the biggest risk for breast cancer.

The longer you live, the higher your risk. The chance of getting breast cancer over the course of an entire lifetime, assuming you live to age 90, is one in 8, with an overall lifetime risk of 12.5%. Again, personal history of breast cancer is a risk factor for breast cancer recurrence or the formation of a new breast cancer.

In other words, if you have already been diagnosed with breast cancer, your risk of developing it again is higher than if you had never had the disease. The risk is about 1% per year, so that over a 10-year period, your risk would be about 10%.

As a precaution, say doctors, you should never ignore, nor feel embarrassed to report, any change in the breast such as a lump or thickening, nipple discharge, skin dimpling or puckering, colour change, pain or irritation to the breast or nipple area. Of course, lumps can be due to a variety of reasons (eg., hormonal imbalances) and a majority of breast lumps are benign and not cancerous. But you should never ignore them and have them checked out without any delay.

Explains Dr Amit Bhargava, consultant, medical oncologist, Max Healthcare, New Delhi: “Women who began having periods early (before age 12) or who went through the change of life (menopause) after the age of 55 have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer since estrogen exposure is higher in such cases.

The risk is also higher in women who don’t breast-feed their children and in those who have genes such as BRCA 1 or 2 which clearly lead to manifestation of the disease in a woman’s body. People with such genes have more chances of getting afflicted with any type of cancer. Lifestyle changes such as smoking and alcohol intake also heighten the risk level.”

The good news, however, is that there is medication available to help you reduce that risk. Additionally, there are things every woman can do to help her body stay as healthy as possible (such as eating a balanced diet, not smoking, minimising stress, and exercising regularly), and keep the risk at bay.

Don’t forget, breast cancer is never anyone’s fault. The bottomline is, if you detect something out of the ordinary during your monthly breast self-exam, see your doctor immediately. Early detection always is the best form of prevention.