Do you know breast cancer is the most common form of cancer afflicting Malaysian women of all races. Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate - whether you’re Malay, Indian, Chinese or everything in-between.

Breast Cancer in Malaysia – the stark facts

* Breast cancer was the commonest overall cancer as well as the commonest cancer in women amongst all races from the age of 20 years in Malaysia for 2003 to 2005.
* Breast cancer is most common in the Chinese, followed by the Indians and then, Malays.
* Breast cancer formed 31.1% of newly diagnosed cancer cases in women in 2003-2005.

* The Age Standardised Rate (ASR) of female breast cancer is 47.4 per 100,000 population (National Cancer Registry Report 2003-2005). Amongst the Chinese, it is higher at 59.9 per 100,000 population, for the Indians, the ASR is 54.2 per 100,000 and it is lowest in the Malays at 34.9 per 100,000 population.
* A woman in Malaysia has a 1 in 20 chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime
* The cumulative life time risk of developing breast cancer for Chinese women, Indian women and Malay women were 1 in 16, 1 in 17 and 1 in 28 respectively.
* The peak incidence appeared to be 50-59 years old.

Over the years from 1993 to 2003, there were a total of 1818 breast cancer patients in the University Hospital. The number of breast cancer patients increased annually, with the highest recorded in 2003. This was 6 times the number of breast cancer patients in 1993.

Breast cancer is more common in Chinese women compared to Malay women. 2% of these patients were below 30 years of age.  The majority of the cancer patients were in the 40-49 year age group when they were first diagnosed. However, this is NOT age-specific incidence but hospital incidence that could be influenced by the population it serves. Perhaps, there is a younger urban population or perhaps, the older folks prefer traditional/kampung treatment. 30-40% of the patients presented in the late stage and although women are now presenting with smaller tumours, the decrease in size is not significant.

Source: http://www.radiologymalaysia.org

Tags: Breast Cancer
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Do you know October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month - the “Pink Ribbon” month?

The  Estée Lauder Group of Companies Malaysia has been actively promoting early detection of breast cancer since 1997. In the last 12 years, more than half a million Breast Self Examination (BSE) instructional cards and pink ribbons have been distributed by the company. Wow! The beneficial cause has raised a whopping RM1.2mil for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association, College Of Radiology Malaysia, National Cancer Society and most recently, the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation.

There are many activities lined up for the Estée Lauder Companies Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign in Malaysia this year. Please check out the calendar at:

http://www.esteelaudermalaysia.com/bca09/calendar.html

The illuminated KL Tower is Estee Lauder Companies' bid in sending out a strong message on breast cancer awareness.

In this October, the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a new epidemiological study suggests that physical activity may reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Many women including many breast cancer survivors walked to streets to raise breast cancer awareness this month. Walking occasionally may be better than nothing, but regular physical activity could be more beneficial, according to the study.

The new study published in the Jul-Sept 2009 issue of Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention found women doing a job that required them to stand or move most of time in a day were 34 percent less likely to contract breast cancer than those spending most of their time sitting.

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Tags: Breast Cancer Awareness Month
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