Annual deaths from breast cancer are on the rise, but screening alone can save 4,000 women per year, a doctor said, urging women to get screened.
If breast cancer is caught in its early stages, the annual numbers of deaths caused by breast cancer could be reduced by 41 percent, said Lin Li-ju (林莉茹), director of the Health Promotion Administration’s (HPA) Cancer Prevention and Control Division.
“However, since the [COVID-19] pandemic started, women have been reluctant to visit hospitals and clinics to be screened. Last year, 81,000 fewer people were screened than the year before,” Lin said.
Photo courtesy of the HPA
Those treated while in the early stages of breast cancer can have surgery that allows them to keep their breasts intact, she said, adding that the five-year survival rate is more than 90 percent.
“Women often avoid treatment because they are afraid of undergoing surgery. However, today the surgery can be performed with minimal scarring and a shortened recovery time,” Lin said.
Breast cancer is the most deadly form of cancer among Taiwanese women, she said.
Among all Taiwanese, it is the fourth-deadliest form of cancer and the third-most likely to occur, she said, adding that it is also the form of cancer with the fastest growth rate.
In Taiwan, one woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 35 minutes, while seven people die from it every day, HPA statistics showed.
The HPA covers the cost of a mammogram every two years for women aged 45 to 69, as well as for women aged 40 to 44 who have close relatives who have had breast cancer, Lin said.
“However, despite the availability of screening ... we saw a decline in those getting screened over the last two years,” she said, adding that there was a 9.2 percent decline in screenings last year compared with 2019.
“It is true that many women worry about undergoing surgery for breast cancer. They are often concerned about scars, defects or differing breast sizes following the procedure,” plastic surgeon Pu Chi-ming (蒲啟明) said.
Pu said such concerns are unwarranted as surgeons today need only make small incisions in the armpit area, through which they can perform a minimally invasive operation using an endoscope or the Da Vinci robotic surgical system.
Modern procedures also reduce risks and complications, as well as recovery time, compared with traditional surgical operations, he said.
“Even athletes who undergo surgery today are quickly able to return to their sport,” he added.
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