Can We Survive Breast Cancer? A livestream with a Doctor (Oct 2021)

Often, breast talk is held taboo in our community, and this has greatly stifled awareness of a lot of facts around breast cancer.

As one of the most common cancers affecting Malaysian women and women globally, breast cancer is the highest cause of cancer deaths in Malaysian women, although it is also one of the most treatable and curable kinds of cancer. A key takeaway and a most important takeaway about breast cancer that we'd like to address before delving further into our article is that:

Breast cancer may be cured if diagnosed and treated early, and it is not impossible to survive breast cancer.

Early detection really is key to saving lives. It is highly curable with early detection and the correct treatment!

A lack of awareness coupled with trepidation and fear after being diagnosed with the C-word, many Malaysian women often do not adopt the necessary preventive measures for early detection and do not seek out proper treatment after diagnosis. To learn more about this, we were joined by Dr Daphne Anthonysamy, Consultant Breast and Endocrine Surgeon of Subang Jaya Medical Centre for a very intriguing livestream to learn more about surviving breast cancer.

Over a 45-minute talk, Dr Daphne shared about the 4 key points to ensuring that more women of our community win the fight against breast cancer. 

1. Preserve breast health by being breast aware. Conduct regular self breast examinations at home to take notice of any changes in your breasts. It is critical to know your body, and to know what is normal for your body and of any changes happening in your body.
2. Being aware of breast screening. The best chance of cure is when the cancer is diagnosed in the preclinical phase, before a lump can be felt. Breast screening options will be done on the advice of your doctor and through ultrasounds, mammograms and MRIs (in some cases) and at intervals recommended by your doctor. Do strike up a conversation with your doctor about this to be directed in the best direction for your body and medical history.
3. Being aware of breast cancer risk factors. Breast cancer may stem from genetics and hereditory risk factors, but 80% of patients diagnosed had no prior history of breast cancer in their families either!  Research has also shown that other risk factors that may play a part nclude not having children, or having children later in life, women who have more mentsrual cycles (as in they start their menstruation at an early age and menopause at a later stage), not breastfeeding. However, these risk factors are in no means definitive causes of breast cancer.
4. Being aware of how to reduce your breast cancer risks. This comes with maintaining a healthy body weight and lifestyle, increased exercise, limiting obesity, especially after menopause, limiting alcohol intake.

So, ladies, please do pay attention to your breasts and let them be your assets, not the death of you. Breast cancer awareness is one of the most curable cancers if detected early.  And, please do remind your girlfriends to do their monthly/ annual checks and to stay breast aware. Early detection saves lives.

To tune into the talk and to learn more about breast cancer and to become more breast aware, Watch the conversation here