Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Hong Kong - and research shows that Asian women are more likely to be genetically predisposed to the disease. Despite the growing number of new cases, advanced technology has prevented the mortality rate from rising.
Contrary to belief that only women aged over 40 are in the high-risk group, the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry says that younger Asian women are also vulnerable to the disease, possibly due to a genetic predisposition.
The registry, launched in March last year, runs a programme which promotes the use of genetic testing to identify individuals so that early diagnosis and preventative measures can be taken.
Ava Kwong, director of the registry, said that recent research had shown that 18 to 18.5 per cent of Hong Kong women have a BRCA gene mutation, an inherited gene alteration often involved in hereditary breast cancer, compared with 10 per cent of white women.
The research shows that 23.8 per cent of bilateral breast cancer cases in Hong Kong women are due to them having the gene mutation, whereas that is only the case for 15 to 20 per cent of breast cancer cases in whites. About 2,300 new cases of breast cancer were recorded in 2005, according to William Foo, a specialist in clinical oncology. While this figure shows a sharp rise from the 1,000 breast cancer cases 20 years ago, the mortality rate has remained constant at 300 to 500 deaths per year, in part due to advances in treatment technology.
Besides surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment, targeted therapy has offered new hope to cancer patients.