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Growing number of women catching breast cancer at earlier stage
 IN MARCH, Ms Dina Moyordo Somoza, 28, felt an excruciating pain in her left breast.
When she lifted her left arm, she could hardly believe what she was feeling – “a big lump”.
Frightened, she told her husband, who told her to go to the hospital as soon as possible.
More than a month later, after an ultrasound, a mammogram and a needle biopsy at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, she received the news: Stage two breast cancer.
She is among an increasing number of women who are catching their breast cancer at an earlier stage.
According to Dr Ho Gay Hui, senior consultant at the department of surgical oncology at National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), more women are being treated for early stage breast cancer now compared to 10 years ago.
The majority of cases seen at NCCS – three in four – are now early stage breast cancer.
Said Dr Ho: “We consider stage zero, one and two, early stage disease. In the early stages, the cancer is very treatable.
“Ten years ago, the percentage of women with stage zero cancer was about 5 to 6 per cent. Now it’s 25 per cent of the patients that we see.”
At stage zero, there is a 98 per cent chance of cure. But the numbers could be even better.
Right now, only 41 per cent of women in the target age group of 40 to 69 go for breast cancer screening.
“We need to get at least 70 per cent of the target group to go for regular screening in order to reduce the death rate,” said Dr Ho. Women can go for screenings at selected polyclinics, hospitals and radiology clinics.
While the peak incidence of breast cancer occurs at the 55 to 59 age group, about 40 per cent of cases are diagnosed in women below the age of 50.
According to statistics from the Singapore Cancer Registry Interim Report 2003-2007, breast cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer in Singapore, claiming about 313 lives every year.
About three women are diagnosed with the disease daily in Singapore.
Which is why Ms Somoza is stepping forward to tell her story.
“It’s frightening, it’s life changing, but it’s so much better if you catch it early,” said the mother of two boys, aged two and four.
Recalling her reaction to her diagnosis, she said: “My brain froze. Inmy mind, after I heard the word cancer, I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die.’ I could not concentrate on anything else.”
She broke down and cried in front of her sons, whom she had taken with her to the doctor.
She has no family history of breast cancer.
“A nurse tried to calm me down. She held my hand and explained things to me. She said: ‘I know you are young, but you have to remove your breast.’
“She also said they can reconstruct my breast so I won’t feel so upset. She said not to worry, everything will be all right,” said the Singaporean, who is originally from the Philippines.
Suddenly, she was plunged into a world of intense cancer treatment.
Chemotherapy
She has been undergoing chemotherapy after surgery to remove and reconstruct her left breast.
She has just finished three months of high-dose chemotherapy and is now in the midst of three months of low-dose chemotherapy.
Following that, she will be undergoing radiotherapy. She is also on Herceptin, an anti-cancer drug.
“The first time I had chemotherapy, I felt nothing. I had none of the bad symptoms like nausea or vomiting. But I became very tired, had no taste in my mouth and
could not walk for long,” she said.
Despite her fatigue, she continued to look after her sons. Her 43-year-old Singaporean husband works as a marine surveyor.
“I have to look after myself. So I eat even though I can’t taste anything and I walk for exercise,” she said.
“I’m trying to live my life and not let cancer take over.”
Ms Somoza, who will be taking part in the Watsons Pink Ribbon Walk/Run on Oct 2 (see report below), said she is now comforting other breast cancer patients.
“When I see them at chemotherapy, so many of them are crying. They say they are very scared to do chemotherapy.
“I say to each of them: ‘We can make it together, sister.’When they look at me, they smile.”
About Watsons Pink Shelves
FROM today till Nov 17, 10 cents of every product you buy from pink shelves in a Watsons store will be donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF).
Aside from the 40 stores with the pink shelves, the rest of Watsons’ stores will also participate in the Watsons Pink Shelves programme, with participating products showcased on the normal shelves.
Customers can also pick up BCF’s The Breast Book, which contains information about breast cancer and a step-by-step guide to breast self-examination, at Watsons’ 23 pharmacy stores.
Female customers who would like to know more about breast self-examinations can approach Watsons’ female pharmacists for advice.
The Watsons Pink Ribbon Walk/Run 2010 on Oct 2 officially kicks off their year-long campaign against breast cancer.
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