“If only it were detected earlier, something could have been
done.” These are the often heard words of doctors. Very true, but what is that
something? Breast removal? Chemo? But even then, when is early detection? How
many years ago?
The reality is that breast cancer is most very often realized
in advanced stages because it takes 5-10 years before the first signs and
symptoms of breast cancer are manifested. This being the case, no woman can be
blamed for seeking medical attention at advanced stages of her ailment because they never
had any understanding of the disease in the very first place.
When does a woman know she is pregnant? Does it mean that when
she misses a monthly menstrual cycle, it can be said she is pregnant? Only with
a pregnancy test can she be positive she is pregnant. Therefore, it is only after the fact. Because even without a
test, she will know she is pregnant as her tummy starts to grow. But what if a
woman misses her monthly cycle but has never had sex, typically among nuns?
Would a nun or virgin still submit to a pregnancy test? And what about
lactating mothers who notice a lump in their breasts? Would they ever think of a
breast disease, thinking that the lump is just milk?
Of course, pregnancy is different from breast cancer because
the former is acceptable while the latter is not. Most, if not all women want
to get pregnant but no women would want to get breast cancer. A woman can
wait and see if she is pregnant but every woman would not want to wait and see if she
has breast cancer. Doctors are then just waiting for all
women to come to them when they already have breast cancer - and this is called “early detection?” Pregnancy
tests are very safe and reliable while mammography is not safe and not reliable. Why else is a biopsy done after a mammogram?
Mammography is NOT early
detection! Having annual mammograms is just waiting to be told one day that a
malignancy is now detected, despite many years of undergoing mammography that
showed benign results. Mammography has a margin of error of 20% for women 50
years & above and 40% for women below age 50 (false positive and false
negative). Mammograms have caused much
over-diagnosis and over-treatment, especially in cases of DCIS (Ductal
Carcinoma In Situ) because it is non-invasive. Somewhere between 30-50% of DCIS
will go on to become invasive but 50-70% could safely ignore it and never have
a problem. The dilemma is that there is no current technology to determine
whether a woman’s DCIS will become aggressive or not. Because of this
uncertainty, women are over-treated with surgery, chemo and radiation – simply waiting
whether it will become malignant or not. Although DCIS is pre-cancer, the
diagnosis brings much fear, bewilderment and difficult decisions for the woman
and her family, most especially when understanding and knowledge of the disease
process and non-invasive/non-toxic options are absent.
This October, the PBCN urges
women and men to join us in removing the pink ribbon blindfold and ask “why are
more and more women getting breast cancer?” Why has the incidence rate of
breast cancer in the Philippines increased from 1 out of 32 in 1980 to 1 out of
13 today? Why does our country have the highest incidence rate in Asia and the 10th highest worldwide? Why does government refuse to
acknowledge the environmental and occupational risk factors for breast cancer
when the evidence is already out there? The general public needs and deserves a
full understanding of ALL potential risk factors for the disease that threatens
ALL women – rich or poor, young or old, with or without child, learned or
unlearned, Christian or Muslim, whatever ideology or political persuasion.
Government and media continue to
focus on “lifestyle” risk factors such as diet and exercise, while ignoring the
potential 60% of breast cancer cases for which they have no explanation. What
about the role of chemical, environmental and occupational exposures? Why, when
the WHO (World Health Organization) states that prevention (which is not the
same as early detection) offers the most cost-effective long-term strategy for
the control and decline of breast cancer in our country?
Why is primary prevention (stopping
the disease before it starts) not given priority over treatment and care? Why
are those with the power to influence decisions on public healthcare not acting
on what we already know now? Why do they persist in refusing to acknowledge the
role of environmental and occupational toxins by ignoring decades of evidence
up to the present day on the link between lifelong (womb to grave) exposures to
toxins and the escalating breast cancer epidemic in the Philippines?
Since 18 years ago when the PBCN
was established, countless women from all over the country (as well as OFW’s
worldwide) have taken contact by email, phone call and SMS for varying reasons:
from asking what to do and asking for financial aid. All inquiries were
promptly replied to: 24 hrs daily, 7 days a week and 12 months a year for the
past 18 years. All were given information to arrive at fully informed
decisions. But what the PBCN does, barely touches the surface. Not all women
have internet nor a cell phone, and neither can the PBCN exist forever.
The PBCN addresses women with
breast cancer, women not yet with breast cancer and women still to be born. Though the first is most immediate, the last
is what really matters. Ask any candidate in the forthcoming elections their
stand on breast cancer and let us elect whoever will make our country free of
breast cancer! Whoever gets elected President or Senator has to firmly act and not continue the deafening silence of government on this grave public health epidemic.
