Breast cancer: ‘20-year-olds must get exams every 3 months’

Seminar examines the fastest spreading cancer in Asia.

LAHORE:

Breast cancer is the fastest spreading cancer in Asia and Pakistan is a high risk area in South Asia, said Dr Misbah Masood, consultant oncologist and Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (INMOL) director speaking at a seminar on Breast Cancer on Wednesday.

The seminar was organised in collaboration with Sanofi Aventis at Alhamara Hall. Female students from different colleges and universities participated.

Dr Masood said that one patient of breast cancer is registered in the world every two minutes.

Consultant surgeon Dr Samina Khokhar spoke about the importance of surgery in breast cancer. She said that women from the age of 20 should get a clinical breast examination done once every three month and those 40 and over should get the test done once a year.

Consultant oncologist Dr Amira Shami delivered a lecture on Breast Cancer Treatment.

She said that most breast cancer patients need further adjuvant treatment after surgery.

She said that with proper treatment and diagnosis, 70 per cent women could recover from breast cancer.

Dr Farrukh Rashid said cancer develops when cells in any part of body begin growing uncontrollably. She said that the cause of breast cancer was unknown in 95 per cent cases though many epidemiological risk factors had been identified.

Dr Rafia Shahzad, a consultant radiologist, said that roughly, 50 per cent of the women with breast cancer in Pakistan died without even seeking any treatment. “It is the only cancer which easily detectable in its initial stage. Early detection can lower the fatality rate by 90 per cent. One in every nine women is likely to suffer from breast cancer,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2011.