11.6% women undergo breast examination in Delhi

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in India. According to the data by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4), 9.8 per cent women between the age of 15 and 49 in India have ever undergone breast examination in the country and of these, only 11.6 per cent women from national Capital have got themselves examined.

However, Interestingly, the rural women residing in the Delhi/NCR region trumped their urban counterparts in preventive healthcare practices where over 14 per cent women from rural areas underwent breast examination as compared to 11.6 per cent from the urban areas, according to the NFHS 4 data.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mammography screening or X-ray of the breast is the only effective breast cancer screening method. Poor awareness about the importance of examination to diagnose breast cancer makes more than 91 per cent women in India vulnerable to developing the second most common cancer among women in the country. The report reveals that about half of the women in the national capital rely on regular BSE to detect signs of breast cancer but are less inclined to opt for clinical evaluation and mammography.

"Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer in women across the world. In recent times though, the incidence of breast cancer is rising in the developing world due to an increase in life expectancy, upward urbanization, and the adoption of western lifestyles. In fact, more women in urban areas are affected by breast cancer than those in rural areas. A large number of urban women are well-educated, but a number of women who seek clinical intervention for diagnosis are low – not many realize that breast self-examination alone is not enough to diagnose breast cancer at any stage," said Dr Raka Guleria, Senior Consultant, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fortis La Femme, New Delhi.

The most common sign of breast cancer among women include inverted nipples, puckering or dimpling of breast size, lump or thickening under armpit, change in size of breast or nipple, dissimilarity in size of breast or nipple, pain in the breast or nipple, discharge from the breast or nipple, and lump in the breast. Those with a family history of breast cancer are two to three times more vulnerable. Early Breast Cancer (EBC) constitutes only 30 per cent of the breast cancer cases in India as compared to 60 to 70 per cent of cases in the developed world.

SIGNS OF BREAST CANCER

The most common sign of breast cancer among women include inverted nipples, puckering or dimpling of breast size, lump or thickening under armpit and  change in size of breast or nipple.