What to do to prevent breast cancer

Dr. Omoye Egho of Pink Foundation, a foundation that has been creating awareness about breast cancer in Nigeria and also offers free breast examination says  “a woman is suppose to examine her breast between the 7th and 10th day of her cycle. The first day of her period is the day she starts her period. […]

Dr. Omoye Egho of Pink Foundation, a foundation that has been creating awareness about breast cancer in Nigeria and also offers free breast examination says  “a woman is suppose to examine her breast between the 7th and 10th day of her cycle. The first day of her period is the day she starts her period. This will enable her to catch any changes that occur in the breast. The more she knows how her breast feel the more she catches the abnormal changes,” Egho says.

Breast examination is an easy procedure that is done in front of the mirror. Egho describes how a woman can examine herself. “Stand in front of the mirror without your top and bra, examine the nipple, compare both breast, squeeze your nipple a little and see if there is a discharge especially if you are not lactating. You could do that while lying down too. You examine the breast in a circular motion round with the other hand on your head. Then you examine your armpit for lumps or lymph nodes. It is ideal you do that every month. This is the easiest way to catch lumps which could be life saving. This small lump could be an onset of a cancer,” Egho explains.

Egho says “when a woman notices a lump, she should see a doctor. It could be a harmless (benign) lump which could be removed by a simple surgery called lumpectomy, or it could be an onset of a cancer. If it is caught early, it can be a measure to stop further spread of cancer. Also, when a woman who is not breast feeding starts lactating, there is cause for alarm. There is a hormone called prolactin that means it is high,” Egho says.

According to the American Cancer Society, any of the following unusual changes in the breast can be a symptom of breast cancer:

– Swelling of all or part of the breast

– Skin irritation or dimpling

– Breast pain

– Nipple pain or the nipple turning inward

– Redness, scaling, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin

– A nipple discharge of substance other than breast milk

– A lump in the underarm area

These changes also can be signs of less serious conditions that are not cancerous, such as an infection or a cyst. It’s important to get any breast changes checked out promptly by a doctor who will order test such as mammogram, ultrasound, MRI and perhaps a biopsy.

The term “breast cancer” refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast. Usually breast cancer either begins in the cells of the lobules, which are the milk-producing glands, or the ducts, the passages that drain milk from the lobules to the nipple. Less commonly, breast cancer can begin in other tissues, which include the fatty and fibrous connective tissues of the breast.

Health experts say breast cancer is always caused by a genetic abnormality (a “mistake” in the genetic material). However, only 5-10 per cent of cancers are due to an abnormality inherited from your mother or father. About 90 per cent of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and the “wear and tear” of life in general.

But Egho says breast cancer is not a death sentence. “There are different modalities to help but depends on the stage at which it was caught. It can be from the removal of the lump from the breast, to what is called radical mastectomy. (That is the removal of the breast and the lymph nodes in the armpits. If it is caught early, then a woman will survive it but if not the woman may not survive. Egho says.