Cancer treatments and support groups are helping, but more cancer prevention is something we really need

The death rate for cancer patients can be brought lower through education and awareness, which will be easier to achieve when we are freer to discuss and educate others about the disease

Amy Wu

Published: 2:30pm, 15 Jun 2019

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This past May was my sixth “cancerversary” and, compared to the previous year, it was fairly low-key. I marked it with a silent prayer for friends lost over the years to this disease. Many were similar to me when diagnosed – in their 30s and juggling work, family and friends. We felt immortal, our personal and professional lifestyles on the fast track.

This anniversary paled in comparison to the fifth, a milestone requiring a gathering of friends over cake and margaritas. All cancer patients and survivors know about the infamous five-year mark, a statistically driven milestone drawing the line between survivor and patient.

But the focus on the five-year milestone is limiting, especially with advancements in science, innovation and technology – specifically social media and video – allowing us to readily share information.

With the sixth anniversary, I had a light-bulb moment. Why not extend the fight to breast cancer prevention research? Meaning identifying and spotlighting areas in the environment and lifestyle that could play a factor. Why not create initiatives, programmes and innovations to bring awareness and introduce advocacy to women of all ages and ethnicities? Why not start education and awareness as early as secondary school?

Cancer is rarely a part of most peoples’ thinking or concerns in their 20s and 30s, much less teens. But while the disease remains rare in women under 40, one in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and it could strike anytime. Fewer than 5 per cent of breast cancers diagnosed in the US happen in women under 40, but some 40,610 people – including 500 men – die of breast cancer annually, according to the American Cancer Society.

I was 37 and working in Hong Kong when I found a large lump in my left breast. I had no family history and lived a fairly healthy lifestyle. One doctor said the root of the disease was stress, another theorised that it was too much ice cream. In other words, no definitive answer.

This is how random the disease can be. Thus, awareness is critical and fundraising for research pivotal, but to date there hasn’t been much attention on prevention.

There are some positive ripples that could lead to a paradigm shift. The California Breast Cancer Research Programme launched the Global Challenge to Prevent Breast Cancer, which recognises ideas from scientists and advocates surrounding prevention. The grand prize was awarded to Victoria Seewaldt, a professor at the City of Hope in California, who focuses on the problem of young women exposed to carcinogens during puberty.

Her proposed solution is launching community service in primary and secondary schools through STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) programmes where students will engage in activities including water testing for toxins, learning to read food labels and, for students in poor neighbourhoods, stepping up education and exposure to healthy foods. This doesn’t guarantee breast cancer will be obliterated, but does introduce healthier lifestyles.

Healthy lifestyles help in Hong Kong cancer fight

Focusing on prevention is much more positive than celebrating survival, or wondering if there was something more we could have done.

The good news is the survival rate for breast cancer is fairly high, at 80 per cent or over in North America, Sweden and Japan and 60 per cent in middle-income countries. But the survival rate drops to 40 per cent in underdeveloped countries, according to the World Health Organisation. For many women in underserved communities, self-checks and mammograms aren’t part of their vocabulary, much less awareness and prevention.

Finally, prevention most importantly starts with public discussion, and creating a safe haven for survivors to share their stories.

At the Young Survival Coalition’s Summit this past year in Texas, I met a young survivor and advocate from Kyrgyzstan who told me breast cancer wasn’t often mentioned because it is taboo. She is trying to change that by sharing her story and organising survivors who openly share theirs. All of us know a mother, daughter, sister or friend affected by the disease.

This isn’t to say that creating a global prevention initiative would be simple; it would require acknowledgement by government health departments and medical providers that breast cancer is a health crisis. It would take a community and public discussions leading to initiatives like public health campaigns. Prevention takes the fight to a more sophisticated level. It’s about time.

Amy Wu is a Chinese-American journalist based in New York and California

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