“Cancer, a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body, is now the third leading cause of death nationwide”
Every October for the last 90 years, Breast Cancer Awareness has been celebrated and it is called “Pink October” as people round the world adopt the pink color and display a pink ribbon.
That is to raise awareness as regards the importance of prevention and routine screening for the early diagnosis of breast cancer, now seen by medical experts as the most commonly diagnosed cancer globally.
Experts say one in eight women are predicted to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
Others say every 50 seconds, somewhere in the world a woman dies from breast cancer, but stressed systematic improvements are needed in breast health promotion, early detection, timely diagnosis and treatment.
In 2020, there were an estimated 684,996 deaths from breast cancer, with a disproportionate number of these deaths occurring in low-resource settings.
According to cancer specialists, leading cancer sites or types are lung, breast, cervix, liver, colon and rectum, prostate, stomach, oral cavity, ovary and leukemia.
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide after cardiovascular diseases which are heart and blood vessels diseases with considerable morbidity and mortality and presenting worldwide public health burden.
Globally, nearly 10 million people die from cancer every year, and, experts say, more than 40 percent of cancer-related death could be preventable as they are linked to modifiable risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use, poor diet and physical inactivity.
Worldwide, there were an estimated 18.1 million cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018 (including non-melanoma skin cancers), with one in four men and one in five women developing the disease, and one in eight men and one in eleven women dying from it.
According to experts, there were 43.8 million persons living with cancer in 2018 who were diagnosed within the last five years. Half of the new cancer cases and cancer deaths in the world occur in Asia.
Based on projected population aging and growth, the global burden of cancer is set to increase by more than 60 percent by 2040, from 18.1 million new cases in 2018 to a predicted 29.4 million cases in the year 2040.
Figures from the Philippine Cancer Society show deaths in year 2010 in the different cancer types as: lung, 9,184; liver, 6,819; breast, 4,371; intestines, 3,060; leukemia, 2,609; stomach, 2,274; cervix, 1,984; brain, 1,855; prostate, 1,410; and pharynx, 1,326.
In the United States alone, an estimated 1,958,310 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2023 and 609,820 people will die from the disease.
Cancer, a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body, is now the third leading cause of death nationwide, with lung cancer ranking number one in mortality.
Dr. Rosario Pitargue, Philippine Society of Medical Oncology president, noted there are 184 cases diagnosed in 100,000 patients and that 96 deaths related to cancer are reported daily.
Breast, colon and pancreatic cancer rates are increasing at concerning rates among America’s young adults, according to a new study.
Breast cancer, which experts say should be diagnosed at an early stage, is the most common cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. The goal: reduce breast cancer mortality by 2.5 percent per year.
Experts add over a 20-year period this could save 2.5 million lives.
Since the 1980s, there has been a 40 percent reduction in breast cancer mortality in high-income countries. This has yet to be achieved in the majority of low- and middle-income countries.
This month, employees of a government news organization have been assigned dates within which to have an appointment with doctors at the Philippine Cancer Society – for detection of prostate and breast cancer.
And this is particularly important for those who have a highly processed diet, smokers, compulsive drinkers and journalists who have a sedentary lifestyle in an eminently stress-filled newsroom.
The first batch of employees had a similar observation on how the doctors began the examination: they were separately asked for their medical history, precisely to find out what possible symptoms might have been experienced by the patient in the near- or even long-term.
The rectal exam, which lasts less than a minute, may be chased by an ultrasound or a prostate-specific antigen test, which measures, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the blood level of PSA, a protein that is produced by the prostate gland.
According to NCI, the higher a man’s PSA level, the more likely it is that he has prostate cancer although there are other reasons for having an elevated PSA level, and some men who have prostate cancer do not have elevated PSA.
NCI says the PSA test has been widely used to screen men for prostate cancer. It is also used to monitor men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer to see if their cancer has recurred (come back) after initial treatment or is responding to therapy.
But some advisory groups now recommend against the use of the PSA test to screen for prostate cancer because the benefits, if any, are small and the harms can be substantial. None recommend its use without a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of using the test.
But what is the PSA test?
Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland, measures the level of PSA in a man’s blood.
According to cancer experts, for this test, a blood sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results are usually reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood.
NCI says the blood level of PSA is often elevated in men with prostate cancer, and the PSA test was originally approved by the FDA in 1986 to monitor the progression of prostate cancer in men who had already been diagnosed with the disease.
In 1994, the Federal Drug Association approved the use of the PSA test in conjunction with a digital rectal exam (DRE) to test asymptomatic men for prostate cancer.
Men who report prostate symptoms often undergo PSA testing (along with a DRE) to help doctors determine the nature of the problem, according to NCI.
In addition to prostate cancer, several benign (not cancerous) conditions can cause a man’s PSA level to rise. The most frequent benign prostate conditions that cause an elevation in PSA level are prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (enlargement of the prostate).
There is no evidence that prostatitis or BPH leads to prostate cancer, but it is possible for a man to have one or both of these conditions and to develop prostate cancer as well, according to NCI.
Until recently, many doctors and professional organizations encouraged yearly PSA screening for men beginning at age 50.
Some organizations recommended that men who are at higher risk of prostate cancer, and men whose father or brother had prostate cancer, begin screening at age 40 or 45.
