BREAST CANCER TREATMENT AIDED BY GENE-SCREENING

Gene screening can now help to identify the women that will benefit from certain types of chemotherapy the best, and can even lead to personalised treatment, and can hopefully be used for other drugs too. Knowing which treatments would work best on certain individuals will also save the individuals, and Government a great deal of time and money.

1 in 29 women in South Africa are diagnosed with breast cancer. The good news is that is you detect it early, it is treatable, so regular checking of your breasts is essential. Check for signs such as lumps, different sized breasts, swelling, and pain. If you find any of these symptoms, have them checked out by your doctor, and if you are over 40years old you should be going for a mammogram every few years. This obviously changes depending on whether or not you have a family history of breast cancer.

For more information on female cancers and CANSA’s Women’s Health Campaign, email info@cansa.org.za or phone the Toll Free Call Centre at 0800 22 66 22.