Many women still believe breast cancer is not curable even at early stage

October is known as Breast Cancer Awareness month. While the majority of patients approaching Tata Memorial Center and Navya are from the north and north-western parts of India, as per the doctors, urban and rural are both equally represented.

So far, more than 35,000 cancer cases were referred online to the doctors, of which approximately 30 per cent of the cases were related to breast cancer.

A majority of breast cancer patients who come for a second opinion to Tata Hospital's doctors are mostly Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

Explaining about the myths related to breast cancer usually found during the second opinion, Dr Naresh Ramarajan, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Navya, said, "Many women believe that their breast cancer is not curable even if it is detected at an early stage. They also do not understand they have some time (a week or two) to properly know their treatment and make an informed choice of treatment, hospital, doctor, etc. Once they hear the word 'cancer' many patients get admitted immediately to undergo treatment on the same day, which may not be the best approach as there is limited time to learn about better options available."

He further added, "Finally, at times patients do not understand that with modern surgical techniques, only removing cancer while saving the breast is often possible and the whole breast need not often be removed. The majority of breast cancer patients are diagnosed between the ages of 40 years to 65 years of age when they are in their working careers or bringing up kids."

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide with more than 2 million new cases diagnosed in 2018.

Speaking about other types of cancer cases, the doctor added, "Cervical cancer and ovarian cancer are also commonly seen for an expert opinion among women patients. Cervical cancer rates are quite high in India. Other than this we also see the stomach and colorectal cancer in women as well.

Around 30 oncologists participate in helping patients with breast cancer decide what their next steps should be through Navya.