How To Protect Yourself From Breast Cancer

October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we bring you the latest updates on our countrys most common cancer in women.

- Elizabeth Liew

Breast cancer is not only one of three cancers in women here, it’s also the top killer. “One out of every 17 women in Singapore is likely to be affected by breast cancer in her lifetime,” reveals Dr Esther Chuwa, Consultant breast and General Surgeon at Gleneagles Hospital. On average, more than 1,900 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually in Singapore. Between 2011 and 2015, 9,634 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, with 2,105 fatalities**.

“Over the past 40 years, the rate of breast cancer has almost tripled. But the good news is that women diagnosed in stage one have a 91 per cent chance of surviving beyond five years, compared with only 20 per cent for those discovered at stage four. Hence, the message of screening and early detection can never be emphasised enough.”

WHAT’S YOUR RISK?

A new study found that women who have inherited a mutated BRCA gene, such as actress Angelina Jolie, have an increased cancer risk. “BRCA genes function to repair cell damage and keep breast, ovarian and other cells growing normally,” Dr Chuwa explains. “But when these genes are mutated, the cells don’t function normally, thus increasing the risk of cancer.”