Towering Reach of Breast Cancer

“It is estimated that one in 19 women here are at risk of getting breast cancer in their lifetime. Even men are susceptible, although in small numbers.", said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen. Compare this to 1 in 8 women in the US.

The exact cause of breast cancer has not been established but clinical data has clearly shown a number of risk factors, which may be responsible for it:

Age: High incidence in the age group above 50 years and very low below 25 years. The disease is more aggressive in younger patients.

Menstrual cycle: Common in the ladies who have a longer menstrual life, i.e. the onset of menarche is earlier and cessation of menstruation is late.

Marital and maternal status: More common in spinsters, or if married then have not given birth to children, or if given birth then have not breast fed their offspring.

A positive history of breast cancer in mother, sisters, and daughters increases the risk.

Smoking and alcohol intake are supposed to increase the risk.

Women with a past history of having breast cancer on one side are at a greater risk to develop cancer on the opposite side also, about 1 per cent per year and the lifetime risk is 10 per cent.

Obesity and higher intake of saturated fatty acids have been also linked .

A woman who exercises atleast four hours per week reduces her risk of breast cancer. Exercise pumps up the immune system and cuts the oestrogen (female hormone) level.

Radiation to chest: Exposure of breast to radiation that may happen during radiotherapy for any cancer disease located either inside the chest or on the chest wall, may make the person more vulnerable to the development of breast cancer. This may happen 10 or 12 years after the exposure.

Oral Contraceptives: Women below the age of 35 years, who have been using oral contraceptive pills for more than 10 years, are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

Hormone-Replacement Therapy: It has been shown that continuous or sequential uses of combined oestrogen plus progestin hormone therapy (CHT) after the cessation of menstruation cycle are linked with an increased risk of breast cancer. The researchers also found that the women who have been using only oestrogen therapy as hormone replacement therapy (i.e. not combining with progestin) for 25 years or longer had no significant increase in the risk of breast cancer.

The readers are cautioned that these facts have been derived from the statistical analysis of the factors seen in the breast-cancer patients; they should not be taken as causative or predisposing factors. In the present era when breast cancer has become such a common disease, it is advisable to follow the guidelines.

This post is a tribute to the Avon Walk Around The World for Breast Cancer and the Pride Foundation.

Article abstracted from the Spectrum column of The Tribune by Dr S.M. Bose.