India's Breast Cancer Problem Is Not Just the Disease. It's the Delay

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VMPL

New Delhi [India], October 28: Every October, pink ribbons appear on hoardings and social media in support of breast cancer awareness. But awareness means little unless it changes one thing: the stage at which a woman walks into a doctor's clinic. In breast cancer, that single factor shapes not only whether she survives it, but how she lives afterwards.

A disease that touches every family

Breast cancer is now the most common cancer in India. The latest estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), released in September, suggest that nearly 2.4 lakh Indian women are told they have breast cancer every year. That is 30 per cent of all cancers in Indian women: of every three women diagnosed with any cancer, nearly one has breast cancer. It also takes more Indian women's lives than any other cancer: roughly one Indian woman dies of it every five to six minutes.

Most women come too late

An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study of more than 17,000 women found that 57 per cent, more than half, were diagnosed only after the cancer had spread beyond the breast to the armpit lymph nodes or nearby tissue.

What the delay costs

Imagine three rooms, each with 100 women. In the first, every woman's cancer was found while still confined to the breast. Five years later, about 81 are alive: a survival rate of 81 per cent. In the second, where the cancer had reached nearby lymph nodes, 65 per cent are alive. In the third, it had spread to the bones, liver, lungs or brain. Just 18 per cent are alive.

The disease is the same in all three rooms. What differs is when it was found. The timing changes the whole outcome.

These Indian figures are from women diagnosed between 2012 and 2015, and treatment has improved since. In the United States, where screening is routine, more than 99 per cent of women whose cancer is caught while still in the breast are alive five years later. Once it has spread to distant organs, that falls to 32 per cent.

Two women,two journeys

Picture two women with the same cancer, found at different times. The first notices a small, painless lump and sees a doctor within weeks. She can often keep her breast, with only the lump removed, and armpit surgery limited to a few lymph nodes. Radiation for early breast cancer now often takes just one to three weeks. Depending on the tumour's biology, she may not need chemotherapy at all, though she may need to take one small pill a day for some years. Most return to work, family and life as they knew it.

The second waits, out of fear, embarrassment, worry about cost, or because the lump "didn't hurt". By then the tumour is large or has reached the armpit. Treatment often begins with months of chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, after which many women can still keep their breast, though some will need it removed. Wider lymph node surgery and radiation follow. Hair loss, exhaustion and long stretches away from work are common, and arm swelling can persist for life. If the cancer has spread to the bones, liver, lungs or brain, treatment can still control it, sometimes for years, but it is no longer aimed at a cure.

Same disease. Very different lives. The difference is timing.

What every woman can do

Know your normal. Examine your breasts once a month so you know how they usually look and feel. See a doctor if you notice a new lump in the breast or armpit, a change in shape, dimpled skin, a nipple that has turned inwards, or unusual discharge. Do not wait for pain. A painless lump is not a harmless lump. Most breast lumps are not cancer, but only an examination and tests can tell.

Ask for a clinical breast examination. It takes a few minutes and is offered at most hospitals and clinics, private and government.

Discuss mammography with your doctor from your forties, and earlier if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer.

Lower the risks you can control. Adopt a healthy lifestyle, stay active and keep a healthy weight.

A closing thought

Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends on October 31. Breast cancer does not. The most powerful tool we have against it is not a new drug or machine. It is a woman who comes in early.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)