| The most common presentation of breast cancer is a painless lump or dimpling of a section of theOncology Surgeon, Dr. Theophilus Lewis, delivers his presentation.breast. It is perhaps for this reason that the majority of patients who are diagnosed with this disease seek medical attention when it is well advanced and often very painful.This state of affairs was amplified yesterday by Oncology Surgeon, Dr. Theophilus Lewis.Dr. Lewis was the main presenter at a breast cancer sensitisation seminar held in the conference room of the Church Street,Brian Poole Falcons Jersey, Georgetown National Library.The seminar was spearheaded by the Ministry of Social Protection in collaboration with United States-based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) – Organisation for Social and Health Advancement in Guyana (OSHAG), the Ministry of Public Health, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association and the Cancer Institute of Guyana.Speaking at the forum, which attracted a capacity audience,Cheap NHL Jerseys, Dr. Lewis said that many of the cancer patients that he has seen have attributed seeking medical attention late due to the fact that they felt no pain.“The reason why they never came early is because it never hurt,Nike Vapormax Plus Sunset, but if they had felt pain they would be in the doctor’s office the next day. So they (patients) would watch these (cancerous) lumps grow and grow because it never hurts,” Dr. Lewis related.According to the Surgeon – who spoke of having to remove many breasts in order to prevent the spread of cancer – while one in eight women will become inflicted with breast cancer,Nike Air Max Tn Shoes For Men Sale, only one in 35 will actually die from this disease. In fact, he related that there is a much greater chance that a breast cancer victim will die from hypertension, heart disease or stroke.“This has been an ongoing trend now from since about the 1950s,” said Dr. Lewis, as he pointed out that statistics have revealed that since about 1980 and onward, the death rate from breast cancer has dropped tremendously. At the time he was making reference to cases in the United States.Some of the attendees at yesterday’s seminar.He disclosed that from 2000 to 2003, the cases of breast cancer dropped by about seven percent. But this development is one that could be explained. “There are a lot of reasons for that; people think for one that there is better surveillance…also up until 2002, a lot of women that had hot flashes or post-menopausal symptoms were getting hormonal replacement therapy,” Dr. Lewis disclosed.He referenced a study that came out in 2002 that showed that while replacement therapy had in fact helped to decrease heart disease, it increased the rate of breast cancer, thus a number of doctors decided to not offer their patients this option. Consequently there was a huge drop in deaths linked to breast cancer.Drawing attention to slide presentations, Dr. Lewis reiterated that “the survival rate for breast cancer has tremendously increased…it has been increased because we are finding them at a earlier stage, increasingly because we have more ways of treating it…because we have some idea what the genetics of breast cancers are like …it has been a real boom in terms of the survival for breast cancer”.While cancer of the lung is deemed the leading cause of cancer death among women,Adam Shaheen Jersey, globally, with breast cancer representing a close second, here in Guyana breast cancer is known as the leading cause of cancer death. Guyana has reportedly detected more than 300 new cases between 2010 and this year, and according to reports out of the Oncology Unit of the GPHC, about 92 cases were detected for this year alone.Continuing with his presentation, Dr. Lewis made reference to a situation that also obtains here in Guyana. He disclosed yesterday that while a small percentage of men also become inflicted with breast cancer, the situation is yet very worrying. This is due to the fact that these cases are also usually detected very late.According to him, one percent of the breast cancer cases that he has seen have been male patients. He spoke of and shared photos of a male patient who, because he was a construction worker, attributed a lesion on his nipple to constantly hitting himself while at work. The lesion was painless. For weeks he (the construction worker) administered treatment which he thought could help, but the lesion did not heal.It wasn’t until a lump appeared under his arm that he decided to seek medical attention. By this time, Dr. Lewis said that the man was a victim of locally advanced breast cancer.“He never thought that he could have breast cancer…so the idea of a man having breast cancer never entered his mind…His was considered locally advanced, because by then the cancer was eating through his skin, which makes it a high stage,” Dr. Lewis noted.And this is the case for most cases of breast cancer detected in men, as there is usually not a lot of tissue for the cancer to grow as in the case of most women, the Oncology Surgeon explained. He moreover urged that men as well as women, who observe any abnormality with their breasts, seek medical attention.Yesterday’s seminar also saw President of OSHAG, Ms. Carol Bagot, amplifying the support that her organisation has been lending to the local cancer fight, which includes helping to sensitise people about cancer with a view of encouraging more people to seek early medical attention,Cheap Nike Shox, thereby reducing cancer- related deathsThe forum yesterday was graced with the presence of First Lady Ms. Sandra Granger. |
