Help for breast cancer patients

Prince of Wales Hospital will strengthen psychosocial services for breast cancer patients after it found 40 per cent of such patients suffer depression and anxiety.

Gloria Chan Hoi-sze, a clinical psychologist at Chinese University, said Prince of Wales Hospital, the university's medical teaching hospital, had provided a screening service for new breast cancer patients since early last year.

The patients' mental health was assessed before they received the first and third chemotherapy treatments. If needed, they were referred to clinical psychologists for counselling.

So far 400 patients have been assessed, of whom about 40 per cent had shown significant symptoms of depression and anxiety before they started chemotherapy.

'Depression and anxiety are quite common among breast cancer patients but in the past patients only sought our help when their symptoms had already been quite severe. This screening service can help identify the needy patients and offer intervention early,' Ms Chan said.

In view of the good response, the hospital will further strengthen the service and invite some breast cancer survivors to contact the new patients and share their experiences.

An interactive computer programme would also be offered to patients to help them learn more about chemotherapy. Ms Chan said the hospital also provided other psychosocial services for patients, such as helping them rebuild their selfimage and sex lives after surgery.

Honorary associate professor of clinical oncology Kwan Wing-hong said treatment of breast cancer had been revolutionised in recent years.

He said a university study had classified breast cancer into five types according to their gene expression profiling, which could help doctors personalise treatment.

'In the past, doctors usually treated the patients according to tumour size and the degree of spread of cancer. But we have found that by identifying the gene expression profiling, the efficacy of medication can be significantly enhanced,' Dr Kwan said.

Breast cancer is the No1 female cancer in Hong Kong.

On the rise

The number of new breast cancer cases has risen dramatically, from 852 in 1983 to 2,285 in 2004

The number of women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer every day in Hong Kong: 6