WITH the number of new cancer cases expected to rise by about 70% over the next two decades, a member of the ministerial Advisory Committee on Cancer Prevention and Control says an evaluation of the knowledge of primary health care workers should be considered to ascertain their ability to diagnose breast cancer early enough.
Specialist radiation oncologist and recently-appointed member to the committee Sudeshen Naidoo said cancer was among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths in 2012.
Naidoo said education and awareness was critical even at school levels, with pupils being made aware of how self-examinations can be done and what the warning signs are.
Family history, lifestyle and environment, body mass index, a lack of exercise, tobacco and alcohol use, and having multiple sexual partners all play a role in the risk of developing cancer increasing. Early diagnosis improves outcomes by providing care at the earliest possible stage when treatment is most effective and generally less costly and less complex, he said.
“Many patients in rural areas present with advanced stages of the disease. This is as a result of poor access to public medical health care and lack of sufficient awareness of the disease and its diagnosis by community nurses at primary health clinics,” he said.
Naidoo also warned about the alarming escalating newly diagnosed breast cancer cases in the country. He gave the latest figures from the national cancer registry as 6 849 new breast cancer cases in 2011 – 21.5% of all cancers diagnosed in the country.
According to the World Health Organisation, the figure is higher: 9 815 cases. “The latest information about the breast cancer mortality per year is 3 206 South Africans,” he said. Having children after age 35 also increases breast cancer risk.