Cancer awareness

Have you noticed those small pink ribbon brooches on sale this month? They are only available in October and you can see them being sold all over the world. What are they for? Well, October is the Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the pink ribbon is synonymous with the breast cancer awareness movement.

The breast cancer awareness movement has achieved a great deal in raising awareness of breast cancer. It has encouraged women to go for screening and has empowered women with information on the various treatment options available. Perhaps the movement has been too successful. For example, we may have oversold mammography in that some people believe mammogram will detect all breast cancers. They forget the role of monthly self breast examination as an integral part of any scheme to detect breast cancer early. Some breast cancers may not show up on mammography but are felt. Hence mammography is not the be-all and end-all for early or earlier detection of breast cancer. The breast cancer awareness campaigns tend to focus on detection and treatment but are light on prevention issues and information for women with advanced breast cancers. One could argue that the breast cancer campaign would be even more successful if it included more information and help for those with advanced disease and also gave equal weight to the influence of lifestyle factors on the occurrence of breast cancers.

The breast cancer awareness campaign has taught us much and has helped tremendously in our fight against breast cancer. However, I would argue that cancer awareness in general should not be a once a year event. Cancer awareness should be in our psyche constantly. The fight against cancer should not be construed as purely a technological pursuit. No imaging techniques and no blood tests can detect all cancers. Each of us has to play an active part. We have an obligation to find out what lifestyle factors can lead to the occurrence of cancer. We have a duty to learn about the early symptoms and signs of the various types of common cancers. We cannot place all our hopes in ‘tests’ only.

To make an impact on our fight against cancer, we have to take ownership of our health and our well-being. To do the job well it is not a once a year thing, it is a 24/7 job.