More breast cancer, but odds are better: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 16 Oct 2006: 3.
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Abstract
A major report to be released by federal Health Minister Tony Abbott today, Breast Cancer in Australia, gives for the first time detail about the number of people surviving after a diagnosis.
The report, by the National Breast Cancer Centre and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, notes that 5318 women were diagnosed in 1983, a figure expected to jump to 13,261 this year. About 100 men are also likely to be diagnosed this year.
National Breast Cancer Centre director Helen Zorbas said Australia’s increased breast cancer rates were reflected across the Western world.
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WESTERN lifestyles and women having fewer babies are the main contributors to the doubling of breast cancer rates in the past 20years.
But improvements in treatment mean the survival rate for sufferers has also increased.
A major report to be released by federal Health Minister Tony Abbott today, Breast Cancer in Australia, gives for the first time detail about the number of people surviving after a diagnosis.
More than 113,800 women and 730 men diagnosed in the past 20 years are still alive.
The report, by the National Breast Cancer Centre and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, notes that 5318 women were diagnosed in 1983, a figure expected to jump to 13,261 this year. About 100 men are also likely to be diagnosed this year.
AIHW Cancer Monitoring Unit head John Harding said the risk of a diagnosis by age 85 had increased to one in eight women, up from one in 12 in 1983.
However, improved treatment techniques meant the chance of dying of the disease before age 75 had decreased from one in 43 to about one in 56.
Luisa Giuffre, from Doubleview in Perth’s northwest, is one of the lucky ones.
She was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 30, when her youngest child, Daniel, was four. Seven years on, she still recalls the shock.
“It was overwhelming: it was the shock of my life, the last thing I expected,” Ms Giuffre said. “I honestly thought I would die.
“I couldn’t understand why I was being denied the chance to see my boys grow up. I was only 30. I was in the prime of my life.”
She said she had come to realise “that it is the little things in life that make you happy, not the material things”.
“People think once the surgery is over you get on with your life but as a young woman there are so many issues: with the treatment, with body image. It changes intimacy issues and can put you into early menopause.
“It is important for the public to understand that while people do get on with their lives there are a lot of issues with the journey.”
National Breast Cancer Centre director Helen Zorbas said Australia’s increased breast cancer rates were reflected across the Western world.
“The more nourished we are and the better off we are, the higher our incidence of breast cancer,” she said. “This is contrary to what we see with most other cancers.
“With breast cancer, it is likely that lifestyle factors are playing a part: including obesity, a more sedentary lifestyle, having fewer babies later in life, and breastfeeding less than in less-developed countries.”