Pretoria - With breast cancer ranking as the leading cause of cancer mortality in women in South Africa and globally, women have been urged to take “breast health” more seriously.
As October marks the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, health stakeholders have once again begun urging women in South Africa, especially those over 40 years of age, to have their yearly mammograms done.
With a lifetime risk of 1 in 25, breast cancer is reportedly the most frequently diagnosed cancer in South Africa. Although rare, 1-3% of all breast cancers occur in men, who are also encouraged to self-examine, especially if breast cancer is common in the family.
According to experts, regular breast self-examination and breast screening with mammograms are essential to ensure the greatest chance of survival from breast cancer, which accounted for more than 25% of new cancer cases in South African women in 2020, and 8% of cancer deaths.
Professor Jackie Smilg – chairperson of the Breast Imaging Society of SA, a sub-speciality group of the Radiological Society of SA – said it was because of these worrying statistics that they encouraged everyone to regularly self-examine their breasts and not wait for a partner or a medical professional to discover a lump or changes in the breast.
Smilg said this was especially important for people aged 40 to 70, with it being crucial for all women to have an annual mammogram.
"Early detection of breast cancer can lead to effective treatment and dramatically improve the chances of survival. We encourage women over 40 to have a yearly mammogram – the gold standard for early detection of breast cancer. Anyone with a family history of breast cancer should get medical input as to the best screening recommendations relevant to themselves."
"Screening for breast cancer aims to find the disease before it causes symptoms. Those who undergo regular breast cancer screening are diagnosed earlier, with less advanced cancer and smaller tumours, undergo less aggressive treatment, and have a lower risk of dying from cancer," Smilg added.
According to the professor, regular screening was more likely to find breast cancers when they were small and still limited to the breast area, which was important for successful treatment and survival, since the size and extent of the spread were crucial in predicting the outcome of a breast cancer diagnosis.
Smilg advised that, with the breast changing throughout the menstrual cycle, it was important for women to always self-examine at the same time of the month, usually a week after their period.
Pretoria News