Fear hinders fights against breast cancer
Fear hinders fights against breast cancer
JAKARTA (JP): Most Indonesian women are either too ignorant or too afraid to check for possible breast cancer. This, says a local oncologist, explains the prevalence of women with advanced stages of breast cancer in this country.
Muchlis Ramli said it is understandable if women with weak educational backgrounds do not seek medical advice for symptoms of breast cancer.
But, Muchlis pointed out, educated women have the same tendency. "They would rather seek traditional healers although such treatment cannot yet be justified scientifically."
He stressed the need for a higher awareness among women to conduct regular self-checks. Seeking medical advice in instances of suspicious signs, he added, would help prevent the need for breast removal.
Breast conserving treatment is possible only up through the earliest stages of the second stadium in breast cancer, he said.
The increasing prevalence of breast cancer among Indonesian women has placed a burden on many of the country's hospitals, most of which are still too ill-equipped to deal with the problem.
Muchlis was one of the speakers at Tuesday's symposium on the future trends in breast cancer control, which was held in conjunction with the international cancer conference at the Jakarta Convention Center.
Muchlis, who heads the oncology subdivision at the state-run Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM), said the scarcity of such facilities as mammography equipment discourages women from having the necessary examination. "Women have to queue for examinations like at RSCM."
Muchlis estimates that each year Indonesia sees an addition of 20,000 women afflicted with breast cancer. This represents about 11 percent of the 180,000 new cancer patients added each year.
"Like in Japan the highest incidence is found in women between 40 and 49 years old," he said.
Although nationwide statistics are not yet available, Ramli cited his 1988 hospital records, where breast cancer ranked first among cancers detected in Padang (West Sumatra) and Ujung Pandang (South Sulawesi), second in Bandung (West Java), Semarang (Central Java) and Surabaya (East Java) and third in Palembang (South Sumatra).
The symposium participants discussed options to conventional surgery for the treatment of both breast and prostrate cancer, and Muchlis was among those who stressed the importance of different treatments at different stages.
"We cannot apply every new method which comes along, as each condition is different," he said, adding that most patients in Indonesia are in an advanced stage, where surgery combined with medication is still often necessary.
Included in the symposium was a presentation of a pilot project in community-based cancer control being carried out in the regency of Sidoardjo, East Java. The project is being spearheaded by several people, including Mrs. Basofi Sudirman, the chairwoman of the government-sponsored family welfare promotion organization.
The Governor, who was also present, said officials' wives will also play an important role in making such models successful.
Within six months, the project, which spreads its message through radio and cultural events, succeeded in detecting early signs of cervix cancer through papsmear tests in most of the 30,000 women examined.
Karjadi Wirjoatmodjo, a team member that helped with the presentation of the project, said he was confident that the equipment for the early detection of breast cancer would soon become more widely available. (anr)