Expert tells WION the importance of breast cancer awareness, especially in a country like India

Breast cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the breast tissue and spreads to other parts of the body to produce new tumours as cells grow uncontrolled and improperly (Metastasis). Although it rarely happens in men, breast cancer primarily affects women.

In India, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. It accounts for 26.3% of all female cancers. Around 60% of breast cancer cases in India are discovered at an advanced stage, despite the fact that it is generally preventable and treated if discovered early.

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To know more about breast cancer and the importance of its awareness in India, WION spoke to Dr Tejinder Kataria, Chairperson, Radiation Oncology, Cancer Institute, Medanta, Gurugram, India.

During an online conversation, Dr Kataria said that the population in India is spread out over a big area of around a 3.2million square kilometres, and out of that 35% - 40% of patients that's amongst women, the cancer is breast cancer.

She said that approximately 200,000 women per year, and is expected to be 250,000 by 2025, will be diagnosed with breast cancer. And of these, 60% of the women come to us in stage 3 and stage 4.

In stage 3 and stage 4, the cure rates are between 40% to 60%, whereas in stage 1 and stage 2, (or early breast cancer when we can pick it up via breast mammography and or breast cancer awareness programmes), the cure rates are 85% to 95%.

"So it makes sense that we make people aware that for breast cancer, they should go in for investigation or they should go in for an examination, a self-breast examination should be done, and mammography needs to be made aware of to people so that we pick early breast cancers," said Dr Kataria.

"It will reduce not only the emotional and financial burden on the family, but also give us better cure rates and also better outcomes for the women," she further said, adding that a breast cancer awareness programme is a must for such a big country like India.

The right approach to spread awareness at the grassroots level

Dr Kataria said that to reach the grassroots level, "we need to integrate the breast cancer awareness programmes into our primary health centres, mohalla clinics, or dispensaries. So when a woman goes for her regular examination, especially at the time of childbirth they would always go to the hospital and would go to the doctor."

"So we should rope in the gynaecologists because normally the breast cancer surgeons have been traditionally males so the women are not very forthcoming about their symptoms. But with their gynaecologists, they are very open and share their body structure and any complaints they have," she added.

Dr Kataria suggested the implementation of respective school education so that adolescents should be made aware of what breast cancer is and how their body form may change. They should not be ashamed of it.

Dr Kataria also added that the stigma and shame that is generally associated with cancer do not allow the women to open up about their symptoms.

"We need to work, even the media and the communications that have to go out from various agencies should highlight these things," she said.

"So this has to be an integrated programme from top to bottom to the grassroot level, where at every level we need to make the trainers and train the trainers, who can teach the women how to self-breast examine themselves and make the facilities avalable to them," Dr Kataria said.

"We need to look at these things to know how to create systems, where the women feel empowered to come in and get themselves examined. It should be an annual check, starting at an age of 40 years," Dr Kataria said.

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