It is known that breast cancer is seen in women as young as 25 years in India, unlike Western countries. Moreover, the type of cancer in Indian women is quite aggressive than that in Western women. And almost 50-60 percent of Indian women succumb to the disease as compared to the 20 percent of Western women. Of the 1,70,000 Indian women diagnosed with cancer each year [1], a sizeable proportion is in the age group of 35-50 years [2], which are the most productive years. Given that approximately 80,000 to 90,000 of those women might die of the disease, usually within five years of their first diagnosis, the issue demands urgent action. Dr Anthony V Pais, Clinical Director and Senior Consultant, Oncoplastic Breast Cancer Surgery, Cytecare Hospitals, Karnataka sheds light on how breast cancer is different in Indian women.
#1. About one-third of Indian women suffer from a type of breast cancer known as Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). This type of breast cancer is not only difficult to treat but also less responsive to most forms of the therapy as the cancer cells do not have chemical receptors for estrogen and progesterone, the main female reproductive hormones. In the western countries, TNBC is seen only in 12-15 per cent of cancer-afflicted women (as compared to 31-33 percent in India).
#2. Several studies have shown that first pregnancy in the late twenties or early thirties and fewer children as a whole, tend to increase the risk of breast cancer although breastfeeding an infant for at least one year does lower the possibility of a young mother getting cancer. Women who nurse their infants for less than nine months to one year do not have this added advantage. Read about breast cancer in a 25-year-old! (True story)
Here are a few things you need to know
1. Maintaining a healthy weight, doing exercises regularly, eating a nutritious diet and restricting alcohol to a maximum of one drink per day are a few steps that experts recommend to lower the risk of breast cancer. Also, do not smoke, and if you have started already, quit as soon as you can.
2. If there are elders in your family (your mother or your aunt) who have suffered from breast cancer, a mammography exam once a year is a good idea. Also, a monthly self-examination of the breasts, if properly done, can go a long way in detecting cancer early.
3. New techniques like digital mammography are preferable over the conventional methods because they can detect 76 percent more cancers than the traditional way. Another option is a stereotactic biopsy, which is less damaging than a surgical biopsy.
4. As far as surgery is concerned, very small tumours (less than 5 mm in size) can be removed without leaving a scar through vacuum assisted techniques, while microvascular reconstruction of the breast tissue can help to maintain the overall body shape even after major surgery. Here are symptoms of breast cancer every woman must know!
References:
- ICMR study on Population-based Cancer Registries, 2012-14
- Breast Cancer Risk Profile in Indian Women: Navnit Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Amit Attam, Sudipta Saha, S. K. Bhargava, Department of Surgery and Radiology, University College of Medical Sciences & GTB Hospital, Delhi, India.