General Surgery Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hayrettin Dizen, who conveyed information about breast cancer, which is known to be a common disease and takes the lead in world cancer incidence rates, pointed out that adopting healthy habits such as healthy nutrition, exercise and breastfeeding reduces the incidence of this disease.
Acıbadem Eskişehir Hospital General Surgery Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hayrettin Dizen, who drew attention to the results of the research predicting that one in every 8 women will develop breast cancer, stated that breast cancer cases have increased 2.5 times in the last 25 years in our country and said, “While mortality rates from breast cancer are decreasing in developed countries, both breast cancer cases and mortality rates are increasing in low and middle-income countries.”
“Social awareness is very important”
Stating that the aging of the population is one of the reasons for the increase in breast cancer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dizen said, “Another reason for the increase is the awareness activities. Many relevant institutions, organizations and non-governmental organizations provide information about breast cancer and make important warnings. Therefore, this information reaches the society through the media. In addition, opportunities for breast screening are increasing. Mammography also increases the possibility of early diagnosis. However, we still need to increase the rate of these studies for public health.”
“Pay attention to your living habits”
Stating that it is possible to reduce the risk of breast cancer, Assoc. Dr. Dizen continued as follows:
“Nowadays, our living habits are changing as a result of gradually moving away from natural life. We don't move enough anymore. We get fat by eating more food. We postpone our birth ages after 35 years. Breastfeeding time of babies is decreasing. Pills are used for birth control for many years. In addition, reasons such as menstruation at an early age, late menopause, menopause treatments increase the incidence of breast cancer.”
“One in every 8 women is at risk”
Pointing out that although the incidence of breast cancer is increasing in Turkey, most of the patients are diagnosed only when they have metastasis, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dizen emphasized that breast cancer is diagnosed at an early stage in developed countries due to better screening systems and better compliance of the society with screening systems. Pointing out that according to the statistics of the World Health Organization, one in every 8 women has breast cancer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dizen said, “While breast cancer is increasing worldwide, death rates from breast cancer are decreasing in developed countries, while both breast cancer cases and mortality rates continue to increase in low and middle-income countries.”
“Breast cancer is the most treatable type of cancer”
Underlining that women can be protected from this type of cancer, which is the most common and best treated with early diagnosis, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dizen said, “We can achieve this in 3 ways. By reducing breast cancer risk factors, surgically draining the breasts (prophylactic mastectomy) and using preventive medications. According to studies, factors such as avoiding obesity, regular exercise, balanced nutrition, giving birth before the age of 30, breastfeeding for at least 1 year, not drinking alcohol and not using hormone replacement therapy for a long time reduce the risk of breast cancer. Women with a family history of BRCA ½ pathogenic gene carriage have a high incidence of cancer. In this case, the intramammary tissue is drained and a prosthesis is placed with the surgery called bilateral porphylactic mastectomy. This surgery, also known as risk-reducing surgery in the society, reduces the risk of breast cancer up to 95 percent.”
“Radiation in mammography is 40 times less than 1 pack of cigarettes”
Touching on the importance of the breast cancer screening program, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dizen stated that the number of cases and mortality rate can be reduced with the increase in breast conserving surgery by detecting the disease at an early stage, that is, when it is small in size and lymph node negative, before clinical findings occur in women. He emphasized that mammography, which is the most effective imaging method in breast cancer screening, is performed to detect breast cancer early in women without complaints and that the radiation dose received during this procedure is 40 times lower than 1 pack of cigarettes a day. Explaining the two major reasons for the increase in treatment success as “increasing the effectiveness of treatment methods and diagnosing the disease at early stages”, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dizen stated that the success of treatments has increased with a multidisciplinary approach, while the number of patients diagnosed and mortality rates have decreased.
“Early diagnosis and treatment success rate increases”
Stating that after clinical staging before treatment, surgical treatment, neo-adjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal treatment is decided according to the stage of the disease, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dizen continued his words as follows:
“If the tumor / breast ratio is appropriate for the patient in the early stage (Stage I and IIA), treatment can be started with breast conserving surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsy. In locally advanced breast cancer (Stage IIB or III), if treatment is started with systemic treatment, it may be possible to measure tumor response to chemotherapy, destroy possible circulating tumor cells, reduce the stage of the tumor and provide an opportunity for breast-conserving surgery and protection of the axilla.”
