By Dennie Quill, ContributorAS INTERNATIONAL Breast Cancer Awareness month comes to a close, there is encouraging news out of the United States about a promising vaccine which suggests researchers may be on the right path.
Each year during October, women all over the world become very active in staging programmes to increase awareness of breast cancer issues. The message is the same each year, but as we learn of more and more people stricken with the disease we are forced to take notice.
SURVIVAL RATES
At the core of the campaign is the important fact that survival rates have been improving due to greater awareness and early detection. The simple message is three-fold and goes something like this:
Early detection of breast cancer saves lives.
Women should know how their breasts normally feel and report any change to their physician.
Both breast self-examinations starting at the age of 20 and clinical breast examinations every three years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and older should be part of regular breast awareness activities.
Breast cancer mainly afflicts women, but it is not just a female problem - it is a major public health issue, because a significant amount of human and capital resources have to be dedicated to treating the disease. And since women make up close to half of the population, and since women are often the breadwinners of their families, it becomes critical that this issue be taken seriously.
TIME OFF
For example, corporations and companies should encourage and give women over 40 time off during October for them to get a mammogram screening.
It may not be possible to do it during October so it can be done whenever it is convenient to do so without disrupting the normal work flow. Breast cancer is a serious health concern 12 months of the year and a sick worker cannot contribute much to the bottomline.
So why should we be hopeful about this new vaccine? Doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC reported that the vaccine derived from bits of tumour protein and when tried on 14 survivors of advanced breast cancer triggered an immune-system response that might potentially fight recurring cancer cells.
These results, called promising by researchers, were presented to colleagues at an American College of Surgeons meeting in Chicago this week.
The women studied at Walter Reed had received conventional treatment for cancer that had spread to their lymph nodes. Researchers say they had no symptoms when they were vaccinated but likely had lingering cancer cells and faced a high risk of relapse.
CANCER RECURRED
The cancer recurred in two of the women, who were considered to have the weakest immune response to the vaccine. The women received a pinprick above the knee once every month for six months.
One of the doctors predicted that if the study continues to show positive results, within a few years, the vaccine might be tried in healthy women who are considered high risks for getting breast cancer.
Of course patients and doctors alike know that a pile of cancer research is ongoing in Europe and the United States. The anti-cancer drug Tamoxifen, which is being credited for saving many lives as it prevents cancer from coming back after the initial surgery to remove a tumour, was first used to treat cancer patients at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, England in 1969.
And in 1998 the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in the United King-dom announced that it had started a large-scale trial of a vaccine on 900 women around the world. The aim of this research is to prove that breast cancer can be controlled by giving the patient a simple monthly injection.
This research was expected to last for four to five years, but early reaction is that it is showing great promise.
So the little pink ribbons which we see every year round about now means much more than awareness. It symbolises the love you have for your female friends and family members.
DREADED DISEASE
It also points to the fact that support for breast cancer awareness is helping brilliant scientists to focus their efforts on finding treatments that will keep this dreaded disease at bay.
In the meantime, every husband, every father, every boyfriend, every brother has a duty to encourage female family members to get checked out. You might just save their lives.
It is said that 70 per cent of breast cancers are detected through self breast examinations. Although nine out of ten breast lumps may not be cancerous any unusual change should be checked out - this simple act may prolong your life.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist
