Prevention and early detection of breast cancer

•Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide with an estimate of 2.3 million new cases annually, contributing to almost 11.7% of all diagnosed cancer cases among both genders.

•1 in 4 cancer cases and 1 in 6 cancer deaths among women globally are due to breast cancer. It is the fifth leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, with 685,000 deaths.

•It is responsible for 180,000 new cases accounting for 26.3% of all cancers among women and 90,000 deaths annually.

•The incidence rates in India are 25 to 33 per 100,000 in urban and 13 to 17 per 100,000 in rural India.

•Average annual increase in incidence is reported to be 8.6%.

Factors contributing to increase in prevailing risk of breast cancer:

Early puberty, late childbearing, decreasing fertility, late menopause, westernization of diet leading to obesity, hormone replacement therapy, use of oral contraceptives and lifestyle risk factors such as intake of alcohol, higher body weight, physical inactivity and also increased number of cases detected through mammographic screening.

•Breast cancer screening is necessary to decrease mortality due to breast cancers. If detected early, fewer women will lose their lives and breast conservation is possible.

•There are various methods available for early detection of breast cancer like Breast Self-Examination (BSE), Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) and Ultrasonography/Mammography.

•As per Government of India Operational Guidelines on Prevention, Screening and Control of Common NCDs, all women >30 years will be screened by Staff Nurse/ANM at the screening centre. Eligible women will be provided pre-procedure counselling and then screened using Clinical Breast Examination (CBE).

•Clinical Breast Examination is to be performed by a trained physician or a trained nurse or a trained health worker. Positive findings on Clinical breast examination will be managed according to the standard guidelines.

The writer is Dean, Projects, Tata memorial Centre, Mumbai and Chairperson of Breast Cancer Awareness Committee, Department of Medical Education, Maharashtra).