Breast and Cervical Cancer Claim More Lives in Developing Countries

The prevalence of breast and cervical cancer are on the rise. India and China are the two countries with the largest number of women with breast and cervical cancer, finds a new study.

Globally, cervical and breast cancer takes the lives of 800,000 women every year -- with two-thirds of breast cancer deaths and nine out of 10 cervical cancer deaths occurring in low-and-middle-income countries.

Cervical Cancer - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Complications & Prevention
Cancer cervix refers to cancerous growth in the cervix and usually occurs in the transition called squamo-columnar junction.

‘About 5.5 million women would be killed from cancer each year by 2030, much higher than 3.5 million deaths from 6.7 million cancer cases recorded in 2012.’

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Five-year survival after diagnosis of breast cancer ranges from around 50 percent in South Africa, Mongolia, and India, to over 80 percent in 34 countries, including Australia, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and the US, highlighting huge inequalities in access to prevention, early detection, and treatment.

Persistent underinvestment in low- and middle-income countries, which receive just 5 percent of global funding for cancer, has exacerbated the issue.

Further, with many competing health priorities in low-and-middle-income countries, services for women's cancers are given low priority and allocated few resources.

Pap smear and Cervical Cancer Screening
Pap smear is the most common test used in screening cervical cancer caused by an infection with human papilloma virus. Pap smear should be repeated every 1 to 3 years till the age of 65 years.

Also, "there is a widespread misconception that breast and cervical cancers are too difficult and expensive to prevent and treat, particularly in resource-poor countries where the burden of these diseases is highest," said lead author Ophira Ginsburg, a professor at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Breast and cervical cancer are not inevitably fatal and can be prevented and treated, say the authors, particularly if they are detected and treated at an early stage, the researchers observed.

Breast Cancer - Prevention and Management with Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle choices may or may not cause breast cancer but healthy lifestyle changes can open up avenues beyond breast cancer. Good habits will allow one to fight breast cancer and to live with dignity.

"There are several low-cost, feasible interventions that do not require specialized care in a hospital or massive capital investment, and which could be integrated into existing health-care programs," explains Lynette Denny, a professor at University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Cervical cancer, for example, is almost entirely preventable thanks to cost-effective routine human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of girls and cervical screening with treatment of pre-cancers, neither of which require oncologists, or specialist cancer centers, and can prevent 600,000 future cervical cancer deaths in the world's poorest countries over the next four years.

Breast Cancer during Pregnancy - Staging, Signs, Diagnosis and Treatment
Management of breast cancer during pregnancy or pregnancy associated breast cancer requires special consideration to avoid harm to the fetus.

While mammography and late treatment of breast cancer are likely unaffordable, clinical breast examination screening and breast awareness campaigns are likely to be cost-effective in diagnosing early stage breast cancer in LMICs, and could in turn help promote early treatment.

The response to women's cancers needs to be seen as a vital part of international commitments to achieve universal health coverage and the new sustainable development goals, the authors said.

The findings of the study are published in the Lancet.

Source-IANS