Breast cancer awareness illustration. (Shutterstock)
Himedik.com – World Cancer Day which is celebrated every February 4 is the right moment to remind again the importance of early detection of breast cancer whose cases are increasing, especially in women.
Early detection of breast cancer can be done by means of breast self-examination alias Realize and clinical breast examination or Sadanis.
Realization can be done alone at home after bathing, while Sadanis can be done by a doctor using breast ultrasound and mammography.
Internal Medicine Specialist Consultant Haemato-oncologist, Dr. Jeffry Beta Tenggara, Sp.PD-KHOM recommends women around 40 years of age to do breast ultrasound instead of mammography.
“At a young age, there are more mammary glands or breasts than fat, so ultrasound (breast) results are more valid than mammography,” she said during a press conference commemorating World Cancer Day 2023 in Jakarta, Tuesday (7/2/2023).
But as we get older, he continued, the mammary glands will decrease and be replaced by fat, so that early detection, especially in women aged 45 years and over, is considered effective through mammography rather than breast ultrasound.
“To detect, for example, calcification or an early sign of the formation of cancer in the breast,” said Jeffry.
However, in many cases, doctors may advise women to have a combined ultrasound and mammography examination, because the two complement each other.
“If there is suspicion of cancer, there is not a single examination that can replace other than a biopsy. Only then will the diagnosis of cancer be established, then the stage will be determined,” added the doctor who is a member of the Association of Indonesian Internal Medicine Experts (PAPDI).
Meanwhile, for women who have not reached the age of 40 but are already experiencing puberty, Jeffry suggests doing breast self-examination, aka Realization.
Realize can be done seven to 10 days after a woman’s menstruation to get more accurate results.
“Hold it yourself (Realize) this is the easiest. The breasts are on the outside, different from the intestines, the lungs are inside. This means that when bathing, every woman should be able to hold her own, meaning that she can detect the start,” he explained.
Early detection of breasts both by Sadari and Sadanis is important to do to remind the incidence of breast cancer, currently it is recorded that sufferers are getting younger, namely girls in their teens.
Sadari and Sadanis, said Jeffry, are classified as the easiest examinations that women who have reached puberty can perform and especially if there is a history of cancer in their family.
“If there is a history (of breast cancer in the family) it can increase awareness to more accurately identify oneself, especially the breasts. If we can find it at an early stage, the survival rate is very high compared to stage four,” he concluded.
