‘Breast cancer surpasses cervical cancer’
With breast cancer surpassing cervical cancer, women above 40 are advised to undergo regular check up so that the cancer can be detected at an early stage, cancer experts said on Thursday.
Head of medical oncology and bone marrow transplant, Sawai Man Singh hospital, Dr Sandeep Jasuja and cancer expert from a private hospital Dr Naresh Somani, addressing a press conference on Thursday, said a three-day conference on breast cancer will be organised in Jaipur from Friday, that would address the latest developments in treating cancer.
Dr Somani said, “Apart from discussing latest updates in other cancers, the focus would primarily be on breast cancer.”
He said according to Globocon 2018, the prevalence of breast cancer is 16% among women in India and this has surpassed cervical cancer.
Dr Jasuja said, 70%-80% breast cancer is caused due to sedentary lifestyle, fatty diet, not breastfeeding the baby, while 20%-30% cause is genetic.
The oncologists said the main reason of rise in breast cancer is due to late marriage and conceiving at a later stage. Even consuming oral contraceptive pills (OCP) can cause breast cancer. They said OCP should not be taken for more than five years. Women should take contraceptives as prescribes by their gynaecologist, they said.
Dr Jasuja said breast cancer is rising among women in rural areas and the reason is lack of diagnosing facilities. Government doctors from 30 districts have been called who will be trained to diagnose breast cancer. They will further train doctors and nursing staff in their hospitals.
The main reason of increase in breast cancer is lack of awareness among women. Although it is curable, due to lack of awareness, women consult doctors at the third or fourth stage. Experts said symptoms like lump in the breast, inverted nipple, discharge from nipple, swelling in armpit etc, should be immediately taken up with doctors.
Testing breast cancer is not a costly affair and it is detected through two methods - mammography and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). These tests are free of cost at government hospitals, while in private sector, mammography costs around Rs 400-500 and FNAC costs Rs 200-300, the doctors said.
Five hundred delegates will attend the three-day conference where cancer experts from USA, UAE and Taiwan will also be present. The oncologists said, recently, Nobel prize has been awarded to scientists on cancer immunotherapy and this technique will also be discussed in the conference.
JAIPUR: