Reducing the breast cancer mortality and morbidity

Breast cancer incidence and mor­tality rates are rising in India and account for one-fifth of cancer-related deaths among Indian women. The rate of survival for breast cancer increases with the decreasing stage. In a study by Nair in Kerala, the survival was found to be 90% for patients with Stage I, 65% for Stage II, 33% for Stage III, and 6% for Stage IV disease.A study in India has shown that among 2880 women who were screened positive, 23.2% reported practicing Breast Self-Examination (BSE), 96.8% underwent Clinical Breast Examination (CBE). Substantially higher numbers of early-stage breast cancers were detected among women who had CBE compared to BSE and awareness.CBE based model is cost effective and hasled to con­siderable reductions in mortality and high numbers of life-years, even with an interval of 5 years.¹¹

A total of 61, 402 cancer patients were registered in at various hospitals of Tamil Nadu in the year 2014. Of which 56% were females. Three sites, namely breast, cervix and ovary constitute 50% of the women cancers in Tamil Nadu. In Tirunelveli district, 1953 cancer patients were registered and 56% of them were females. Breast cancer was the top-ranking cancer in Tirunelveli, constituting 20.4% of the women cancers followed by cervix (12.3%)^.Evidence is available for downstaging of breast cancer through improved awareness among the women and health workers. In a study by Devi et al., it is found that breast cancer in stage III and IV reduced from 60% (1994) to 35% (1998).Therefore, sensitizing the community about breast cancer and teaching them about the simple cost-effectivescreening methods will be highly beneficial. 

Awareness program

Based on an Indian study which identified the barriers to early detection of breast cancer among women, some of the specific areas for the awareness program were selected. It includes:

• Knowledge and perception about breast cancer: Prevalence and population at risk, risk factors, symptoms, treatment and prevention, inheritance and importance of breast cancer awareness programme.
• Factors preventing women from presenting early with breast cancer: Behavioural factors - (a) Shyness/hesitation, (b) Fear, (c) Ambivalence in prioritizing health; Myths and misconceptions - Lack of information, Social stigmas, Financial constraint, Lack of support.
• Healthcare-seeking behaviour

Nellai Railway station turned pink on account Pink October Breast cancer awareness month. Our Team were there in Nellai Railway station for 3 days to create awareness among Railway staff and Public.

Also our Team conducted Breast cancer awareness session in Einstein College, Allangulam for the students. They also conducted signature campaign against Breast cancer in which lot of people signed to support our campaign.