Andhra Pradesh

On a mission with a message

—Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

FOR A CAUSE: Radiologist Jahnavi explaining the salient features of the mammography in Guntur.

GUNTUR: Not many women in Guntur have awareness on rising incidence of breast cancer and that too at a younger age.

A woman radiologist is doing her bit to promote the mandatory check.

A medical graduate from Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Jahnavi, as part of the World Breast Cancer Awareness Month has taken up the challenge to reach as many women as possible with the message that every woman in her late 30s must get a precautionary check done in consultation with a doctor.

Breast cancer incidence has overtaken other types of cancer.

“The social stigma attached to getting a breast check done, has been keeping many high-risk women away from a simple but effective way detecting cancer early,” Dr. Jahnavi told The Hindu.

Women having family history of breast/ovarian cancer, spinsters, those above 40 years and had not breast-fed their children, fall under the high-risk category.

Those who undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for treatment of surgically menopausal, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women ran two to three times higher risk compared to other women, she said.

Mammography offers a hassle-free cost-effective methodology to detect the malignancy at an early stage, where a chance of complete treatment goes up significantly. An active person in social circles through her activities in various charitable clubs, she proposes to reach women in nooks and corner of the district.

“Women usually prefer to go to a lady radiologist for mammography and they keep it putting off a visit to a doctor unless an urgency arises,” she pointed out.

In Indian social fabric the health concern of a woman gets a low priority, which further delays the detection and pushing the patient into a danger zone between Stages 3 and 5. The chances of survival were between 90 per cent and 50 per cent if detected in the first two stages.

“Losing a breast as part of surgical intervention for treatment was traumatic for women and a majority even after detecting a malignancy put off treatment,” Dr. Jahnavi added.

The chances of relapse in the opposite breast or spreading to other parts always remain and a check every year was mandatory.

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