Breast cancer is a very serious problem that affects millions of women around the globe. In the past few years, awareness has begun to increase among women about the early signs of breast cancer and the importance of regular screenings. One of the biggest problems that many women faced in the past was that they were unable to discern any sort of anomaly in their breasts. They didn’t realise that minor lumps could eventually grow into cancerous lesions if they weren’t diagnosed or checked in their early stages.
This has begun to change in the past few years, especially as many of the world’s leading celebrities have led the charge towards breast cancer awareness. You need to learn more about breast cancer screening in Singapore and go for a screening from time to time in order to maintain your health. According to research done by the American Cancer Society, more than 14 million cases of cancer are diagnosed each year with almost one in eight being breast cancer. It is the most common kind of cancer in the world with nearly 1.7 million cases registered back in 2012 and the number increasing considerably over time.
The Risks
The risks of breast cancer continue to double each decade until the woman hits menopause and that’s one of the reasons why so many young women are diagnosed with this disease. In most advanced countries, the survival rate for breast cancer is considerably high, approaching 90%. However, in countries where advanced medical care is not readily available, the rate can fall considerably, going as low as 24% once the disease reaches an advanced stage. As is the case with many other kinds of cancer, the main thing that determines a woman’s chances of survival in breast cancer is an early diagnosis. There are many different reasons why a woman might be susceptible to breast cancer. Exposure to X-rays could exponentially increase the risk of breast cancer, even at the lower doses. Other reasons include hormone therapy, especially progesterone as well as oestrogen. An early diagnosis can be crucial in saving a woman’s life.
Treatment
Treatment of breast cancer is generally done with chemotherapy. If the diagnosis is done in the early stages, several rounds of chemotherapy will be scheduled in order to determine the impact of the radiation and the chemotherapy. Even though the majority of breast cases are diagnosed in women, there are an estimated 2,600 men across the globe that are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. On average, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every two minutes and one woman dies every 13 minutes due to breast cancer. Breast cancer awareness campaigns are designed to make women aware of the early signs of breast cancer and get treatment as quickly as possible. Breast cancer has been deemed a “global burden” by the World Health Organisation and a global effort is required in order to root out breast cancer completely from society.
