Lee Anna Maharaj
Reporter
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Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the world, with over 2 million people being diagnosed each year. However, despite its prevalence, there are still some myths and misconceptions when it comes to the disease.
Guardian Media spoke to Dr Rajen Rampaul, a Breast Oncologist at Pink Hibiscus Breast to debunk some of these myths.
Myth 1: Only older women can get breast cancer.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most breast cancer cases are women 45 years old and over. However, findings from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation indicate that the breast cancer incidence rate in women under 50 has risen about 1.4 per cent each year, in the last 10 years.
Dr Rampaul noted that lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise and a poor diet, not only contribute to the development of diseases but also cancers. He added that this is also affecting teenagers who are obese or not exercise-focused.
Dr Rampaul also addressed concerns about teenagers getting breast cancer.
“This is not a condition that affects teenage girls, but it is something that when a woman is in her 20s and 30s, she should start having regular breast examinations and become aware of her own breast health. I mean, my youngest patient to date was 18 years old, but I’ve been a breast cancer surgeon for over 20 years, and I’ve had one [teenage] patient. I continue to say that 40 years and over is where it’s at. However, we do see women younger than 40 who would come for checkups and annual checks, and they can have safe tests such as ultrasound, which does not have radiation and would not affect their fertility in any way,” he said.
Myth 2: Only women are diagnosed with breast cancer.
“About 1 per cent of all breast cancers are in males. So, it’s a very rare entity, but men do get breast lumps. The reason why these things happen is because men do have a small amount of breast tissue. In fact, during puberty, that breast tissue can become a little more developed. There’s a big medical word for that called gynaecomastia. You see some of that in bodybuilders that they develop a little bit of extra breast. So it happens because we have a breast bud.
Naturally, having a bit of breast tissue there means that things can happen to it. It can go wrong, and breast cancer can develop,” Dr Rampaul explained.
He emphasised that it’s also a man’s responsibility to be aware of his body.
“There is no screening for breast cancer in men because, first, it’s a very rare condition. Secondly, it’s very little breast tissue. So, any changes are quickly and easily seen and not like a woman who has a fully developed breast. There is no indication whatsoever for mammograms in men, because you cannot get a human male to go into the machine and do anything like that. But a medical test like an ultrasound and a doctor examining that man will yield the results that you’re looking for. And almost exclusively, male breast cancer will present as a lump. You can have nipple changes; you can have an ulcer in the nipple or bleeding. Those are some rare signs of it, but almost always, it’s a lump in the breast,” Dr Rampaul expounded.
Myth 3: Some ethnicities are more likely to get breast cancer.
There is a common misconception that women of African descent have a higher chance of getting breast cancer. In reality, research from the American Cancer Society shows that Black women have a higher risk of dying from breast cancer. Dr Rampaul explained that phenomena like these exist in countries like the United States where access to healthcare can differ based on socio-economic status.
Dr Rampaul elaborated:
“You would look at certain ethnic minorities and where they live. If they live in the inner-city areas, if they live in remote areas. If you look at the Native American population, breast cancer and other cancers have a higher prevalence there, but these are populations who live in remote communities in the middle of nowhere on what they call reservations. That is very different if you live in downtown New York. So that is very complex, and it does not apply to our situation. Here, I see no difference in race. We don’t have a National Health Screening Service, and we don’t have a National Breast Screening Service. So it’s driven by patients being motivated on their own, or whether they have insurance and they understand what is the importance of it, and they use their health insurance to design their own screening.”
Myth 4: You can’t start a family after breast cancer.
The dream of having a family doesn’t end with a breast cancer diagnosis. There is still hope for women undergoing treatment or even for survivors. After treatment, many women are still able to conceive, and in some cases, even breastfeed.
“Surgery has no effect on a woman’s ability to have a baby because that comes from her ovarian function, her ability to make an egg and her ability to carry a fertilised egg. But it will affect breastfeeding. So breast cancer surgery on the side that’s operated on may not be able to produce milk, but the other breast that has had no treatment will produce milk,” Dr Rampaul shared.
While chemotherapy can affect a woman’s ability to make and carry eggs, Dr Rampaul said there are options for her to consider.
“There are ways to try and preserve that ability, and these can be harvesting the egg, freezing it or freezing ovarian tissue. Then you wait and you have the patient go through her chemotherapy, and at a certain time in the future, she can then have these things reintroduced so that her body is able to either carry an egg successfully or make eggs again. Chemotherapy theoretically should not have an effect on breastfeeding because that is your ability to have to make milk and the ability to have the milk come to the nipple,” he added.
Myth 5: Breast cancer is incurable
Thanks to medical advancement and research, a cure for breast cancer is on the horizon.
Dr Rampaul noted:
“The cancer drugs that are now present today for breast cancer are about 10 years ahead of the other drugs used for other types of cancers, and similarly for surgery as well. So, the quality of surgical invention and the quality of drug invention for breast cancer is years ahead of any other type of cancer treatment. That leads us to how close we are to cure, and I would say we are very close. In fact, many women are being cured. Cure is the ability to help someone survive breast cancer, and should they die, it would be because of something else. More and more women, we are able to treat and help them live a full life, but it would be other causes or natural life that would cause them to have their end of life, and that is a form of cure because they did not die of breast cancer. So with the advancements in drugs and the advancements in screening, we are able to get the disease smaller and so make the drugs and the treatments more powerful.”
With these advances bringing new hope, the message is clear: awareness, screening, and self-care are key to saving lives.
“You should become aware that looking after yourself is very important, and don’t be scared about testing. Don’t be scared about screening. It’s painless. It’s very powerful information. And it can allow you to take control of your health. Whilst they think in the beginning there is very little hope, I have found in my practise that most women are able to find strength within themselves and have a miraculous recovery, very strong and positive recovery. They embrace life. So I encourage women who currently may be undergoing treatment to understand the treatment you’re having is to help you get cured,” he said.
