Awareness is undoubtedly one of the greatest assets women can have in their fight against breast cancer. This month, the Woman This Month team spoke to the Consultant General Surgeon and Breast Cancer Specialist at Al-Zahra Hospital Dubai Dr. Taghreed Almahmeed, an American and Canadian Board-Certified Surgeon who holds professional memberships with the American College of Surgeons, the American Association of Cancer Research and the American Society of Breast Surgeons.
She tells us how to conduct a breast exam, what symptoms to look for, and enlightens us on various treatments available to women.
Improving public awareness through campaigns is known to be significant in decreasing the overall mortality of breast cancer. “Head to your nearest health centre for routine breast cancer screening, which can help detect breast cancer before any symptoms are present. This is the most proactive and preventative thing you can do,” stresses Dr. Almahmeed.
“Cancer diagnosed before symptoms appear is more likely to be treated successfully, and the 5-year relative survival rate is 98 percent making early detection key,” she adds.
Menstruating women should conduct breast-self exams once a month, the week after their period ends when there is less swelling and tenderness. Women who have stopped menstruating or have irregular periods can pick a consistent day, like the first day of the month.
One of the signs that women must look or feel for is a lump, hard knot or thickening inside the breast or underarm. Other symptoms include a change in the size or shape of the breast, dimpling or puckering of the skin, pulling in of the nipple or other parts of the breast or nipple discharge that starts suddenly.
“An itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple, or a new pain in one spot that does not go away are signs women should look for during the self-examination too. Should a woman feel any warning signs, she must go to a doctor,” she says.
The primary treatment for breast cancer at stages 1, 2 and 3 is surgery. “It is necessary for women fighting cancer, and is recommended depending on the type, size, stage and grade, how advanced the cancer is, and whether the cancer cells are sensitive to hormones. Furthermore, it depends on the patient’s health and preferences,” she explains, adding that surgery is not usually performed on metastatic cancer.
The surgical approaches which women battling cancer can choose are a lumpectomy (partial mastectomy), a total mastectomy, a modified radical mastectomy, nipple sparing mastectomy or a mastectomy with breast reconstruction. “The breast looks closer to how it did before surgery with a lumpectomy which involves removing only the tumor and a rim of normal tissue around it. Radiation therapy is given after lumpectomy to remove any cancer cells that might remain in the breast, and it lowers the risk of breast cancer recurrence,” she explains.
During a total mastectomy, the whole breast is removed, including the nipple, while modified radical mastectomies involve an axillary node dissection. “This is when the surgeon removes the majority of lymph nodes under the arm,” she says.
Through a nipple sparing mastectomy, all the breast tissue is removed but the nipple, areola, and skin of the breast is left intact. “Either a sentinel lymph node biopsy (removal and examination of the sentinel nodes), the first lymph nodes to which the cancer cells are likely to spread, or an axillary lymph node dissection will be done depending on the diagnosis and stage of the tumor,” explains Dr. Almahmeed.
Women can also opt for breast reconstruction which can be done at the same time as the mastectomy with implants or tissue flaps from somewhere else on the body.
“October is a month dedicated globally to Breast Cancer Awareness and so, I urge all women to make their breast health a priority and get themselves screened,” concludes Dr. Almahmeed.
