BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
Breast cancer survival rates soar
BY THE VILLAGER STAFF
A breast-cancer diagnosis
can be a devastating
blow. Upon receiving
such a diagnosis, people may
begin to ask questions about
treatment and the impact cancer
may have on their personal lives.
Many people who are diagnosed
with cancer also begin to wonder
about their mortality.
An estimated 266,120 new cases
of invasive breast cancer and
63,960 new cases of non-invasive,
or in-situ, breast cancer are expected
to be diagnosed among
women in the United States this
year, according to Breastcancer.
org. According to the latest statistics
presented by the Canadian
Breast Cancer foundation, 26,300
women and 230 men had been
diagnosed with breast cancer in
Canada in 2017.
The good news is that breastcancer
incidence rates began decreasing
in 2000 after increasing
for the previous two decades. In
Early detection and better treatment options are improving the chances of surviving breast cancer.
addition, death rates from breast
cancer have been decreasing
steadily since 1989.
The National Cancer Institute
says that the change in age-adjusted
mortality rates are an indicator
of the progress being made in the
fi ght against breast cancer. The
most recent SEER Cancer Statistics
Review released in April
2018 indicates cancer death rates
among women decreased by 1.4
percent per year between the
years of 2006 and 2015.
The American Cancer Society
says that decreasing death rates
among major cancer types, including
prostate, colorectal, lung,
and breast cancers, are driving
the overall shift in survival. The
Society says breast-cancer death
rates among women declined by
39 percent from 1989 to 2015.
That progress is attributed to improvements
in early detection and
treatment protocols. For anyone
doing the math, over the last 25
years or so, 322,000 lives have
been saved from breast cancer.
A similar scenario has unfolded
in Canada. Breast cancer
mortality rates in Canada recently
decreased to 21.4 percent, down
from 21.8 percent in 2011, states
data from the Canadian Cancer
Society. Currently, the fi ve-year
survival rate for breast cancer
among Canadians is 87 percent,
and the fi ve-year net survival in
the United States is 85 percent.
Increased knowledge about
breast cancer, early detection
through examinations and
mammography, and improved
treatments are helping to drive
up the survival rates of breast
cancer. Although this does not
make diagnosis any less scary, it
does offer hope to those recently
diagnosed.
BY THE VILLAGER STAFF
Menopause occurs when a
woman’s reproductive cycle
is over and she can no longer
produce offspring. For many women,
menopause occurs around age 50.
While menopause itself is not a risk
for breast or other cancers, it’s important
to know that some symptom treatments
and other factors can increase
the risk for cancer among menopausal
women.
The North American Menopause
Society says that a woman going
through perimenopause and
menopause may experience various
symptoms, which can range from hair
loss to food cravings to hot fl ashes to
vaginal dryness. The National Institutes
of Health indicates some women
undergo combined hormone therapy,
also called hormone replacement
therapy to help relieve menopausal
symptoms such as hot fl ashes and osteoporosis.
This therapy replaces estrogen
and progestin, which diminish
Menopause and
breast-cancer risk
in a woman’s body after menopause
sets in. However, NIH’s Women’s
Health Initiative Study has found that
women undergoing this therapy have
a higher risk of breast cancer, among
other conditions.
WebMD says evidence suggests
that the longer a woman is exposed to
female hormones, whether it’s those
made by the body, taken as a drug, or
delivered by a patch, the more likely
she is to develop breast cancer. That
means that hormone replacement
therapy can increase breast cancer
risk and also indicates that the longer
a woman remains fertile the greater
her risk for certain cancers. Women
who began menstruating before age
12 or entered menopause after age
55 will have had many ovulations.
This increases the risk of uterine,
breast, and ovarian cancers, states
the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
It also may impact a woman’s
chances of developing endometrial
cancer.
Gaining weight after menopause
can also increase a woman’s risk of
breast cancer, states the MD Anderson
Cancer Center. Therefore, maintaining
a healthy weight or even losing a little
weight can be benefi cial.
Women who enter menopause are
not necessarily at a higher risk for
breast cancer, but some factors tied
to menopause can play a role. Women
who want to lower their risk for various
cancers are urged to eat healthy
diets, quit smoking and maintain
healthy body weights.
Menopause itself is not a risk for breast or other
cancers, but it’s important to know that some symptom
treatments and other factors can increase
the risk for cancer among menopausal women.
10 Oct. 8, 2020 Schneps Media