SUCKING BREAST PREVENTS BREAST CANCER?

Did God create sickness? will come out very soon but it is important to let you know that be Breast cancer aware and informed everyday and every month, not only the pink month, October. This leads us to what Breast cancer is.

Be breast cancer aware! Photo credit: Goldman Awuku.

Breast cancer is the disease of the Breast and its surrounding tissues caused by abnormally growing cells that invade healthy cells of the Breast. As these abnormal cells grow, they form a lump which enlarges as time goes on if not detected early, and spread to other organs and systems like the lungs, liver, brain, bone etc via the blood vessels or lymphatic vessels (metastasis).

Incidence

In 2012, more than 2000 new cases in Ghana with 1000 deaths (Breast cancer clinic, KBTH).

In 2018, more than 4,600 new cases in Ghana with 2000 deaths, 580 new cases alone in KBTH (Breast cancer clinic, KBTH).

Causes

No known cause but risk factors which means that those factors increase the chance of getting the disease. These include the following:

1. Common among women (female sex). According to WHO, 1.2% of Breast cancer cases is men.

2. Increasing age especially female.

3. Positive family history like mother, sister or daughter.

4. Previous history of breast cancer.

5. Female hormones like estrogen leading to early onset of menstruation.

6. Having no children.

7. Obesity.

8. Lack of exercise.

9. Alcohol intake.

10. Fatty diet and others.

Signs and Symptoms

1. Obvious lump in the breast (feeling a lump in your breast during breast examination).

2. Sometimes, you may not feel a lump in the breast but a swollen axilla (armpit), there is alarm to seek for medical advice.

3. Partly swollen around the breast/change in the size of the breast (when you see the breast is enlarged than the normal). Naturally, one breast is bigger than the other but unusual enlargement is an alarm.

4. Discoloration around the breast like orange or dark brown.

5. Rashes or sores like the skin is peeling off especially around the nipple.

6. Inverted nipples/ nipple retraction (but this might be normal for some people).

7. Dimpling on the breast when looking in the mirror or during breast examination.

8. Nipple discharge such as bloody discharge.

NB; when there’s pain in the breast, then it is likely breast cancer has advanced, please don’t wait for pain before seeking medical attention but the above signs and symptoms because early detection, early treatment saves life.

Also, not all lumps in the breast are cancerous.

Clinical Assessment And Diagnosis

1. Signs and symptoms

2. Breast examination

3. Mammogram: this helps to detect breast cancer that wasn’t detected during breast examination (micro-metastasis). Sometimes, no lump is detected during breast examination but after mammogram, it showed breast cancer.

4. Ultrasound scan

5. Biopsy; a small tissue of lump is taking to the laboratory for the study of the cells (histopathology).

Stages of breast

The pathology report helps to know the stage of breast cancer using the TNM ( primary tumor, lymph nodes and metastasis/spread).

Treatment

All hope is not lost for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer. The key thing is early reporting leads to early detection which also leads to early treatment, increasing the survival rate. Breast cancer treatment depends stage of the disease, the pathology (study of disease) reports, menopausal status, overall health of the patient, and the decision of the patient. One secret about breast cancer treatment is acceptance ( that is accepting that you have the disease, and now cooperating with the treatment strictly).

Breast cancer treatment needs a multidisciplinary team approach to achieve good results. The multidisciplinary team include the surgeon (surgical treatment), oncologist (radiotherapy and chemotherapy), breast care nurse (Patient’s advocate), and psychologist (psychological support).

Additionally, everyone is unique in his or her own way, so please friends, colleagues and family, do not stigmatize people with breast cancer, they need your support, accept them the way they are, put yourself in their shoes. It may happen to anyone, a survivor message to you is that breast cancer does not know your status. Medical as well as family support leads to high survival rate (A survivor message).

Prevention of breast cancer.

1. Exclusive breastfeeding can prevent the risk of getting breast but not sucking of the breast by your partner. Breastfeeding helps to delay the production of female hormones like estrogen which will promote the growth of the breast cancer cells . Sucking of the breast by your partner can only help to detect early if there’s a lump as the partner plays with the breast.

2. Self-aware of our body is very key (A survivor message): monthly self- breast examination or professional breast examination, all the signs and symptoms discussed above like unusual change of size of the breast, discoloration of the breast and others.

3. Healthy lifestyle like good diet; low intake of fatty diet, eat more fruits and vegetables ( this produces antitoxins to kill and remove the carcinogens (cancer cells) from the body system), regular exercise, avoid alcohol intake, avoid smoking and others.

Misconceptions about breast cancer.

Please note that breast cancer is never contagious (that’s communicable), never a curse, and does not always start with painful symptoms. Breast cancer is also never a “death sentence “. Most people also think breast cancer only affects women( old) but can affect men also, and as young females as seventeen (17) years.

Others think that once one breast is cut off, you will die which is untrue. Some even say when a child belches into your breast during breastfeeding, you will get breast cancer which is also not true. Some associate the cause of the disease with family planning which is false. Others think only those with a positive family history are at risk but everyone is at risk so must be self-aware of our breast. Thank you so much for reading. Let us all be breast cancer aware, and be informed everyday, every month, every year, and not only pink month (October)!

I acknowledged Breast cancer clinic, Surgical department, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra-Ghana for the Breast Cancer Information Day. I also acknowledged my colleagues at the graduate school, Ghana Institute of Journalism for the pictures.