Mammography

IBC's Nontraditional Symptoms Make It Hard to Detect Most women associate breast cancer with a lump, but there are other ways that the disease can manifest itself.

An increasing number of women are being diagnosed each year with breast cancer and the condition has become the most common among all South Africans. About 3 800 women were diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone. The condition is most prevalent among whites and Asian women. About 90 percent of patients survive for many years after diagnosis when breast cancer is detected at the early stages. Early detection of the condition can lead to effective treatment and a positive prognosis can prevent unnecessary deaths, according to experts. The department will host a series of awareness campaigns across the country to educate the public about the need for regular self-examination, to have regular mammograms and to provide information about early symptoms and the various treatment options available. The department will work with the public and private healthcare structures in its drive to raise awareness of the debilitating disease across all races and class structures. (Source: Sowetan, 3 October 2001)