To protect themselves against breast cancer, women over the age of 40 should not rely only on self-examination, but should also receive regular mammograms, Bureau of Health Promotion Director-General Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said.
Sharing her own experience, the 47-year-old family doctor said on Friday that she had never noticed any abnormalities in her breasts, despite conducting self-examinations every month. However, a 1cm benign fibroma was found in her left breast when she had her first mammogram recently.
“Even I, a trained doctor, failed to feel the lump in my breast,” Chiou said.
In Taiwan, women are diagnosed with breast cancer at an average age of 51, with breast cancer patients dying at an average age of 56, according to Department of Health statistics.
The incidence rate of breast cancer among Taiwanese women in their 40s is fast catching up with that of the US, mainly because of inceasing obesity and a Western diet, Chiou said.
She said cancer incidence among women their 50s could also rise and urged women over 40 to have a mammogram once every two years.
The government provides free mammograms once every two years to women aged 45 to 69, while those who have immediate relatives who have been diagnosed with breast cancer are entitled to the free service from the age of 40.
Despite the program, only 11 percent of women aged 45 to 69 received the screening, while the rate for those aged 50 to 69 was only slightly higher at 18 percent, according to Department of Health data.
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