Breast cancer is one of the most common neoplastic diseases in Poland. Several factors are responsible for its development. As Elżbieta Kozik from the Polish Amazons says, scientists believe that we can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer.
- Primary prevention is key in reducing the risk of breast cancer
- It is primarily screening tests, but also a change in lifestyle
- Read the first part of the breast cancer interview
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage.
How can we minimize the risk of developing breast cancer, what is the prevention like?
Elżbieta Kozik – Polish Amazons Social Movement: We have to start with the basics, which is what a person can do to minimize the chance of getting cancer. More and more studies show that the lifestyle, what we eat, whether we research ourselves, our attitude towards people, and stress influence the risk of developing breast cancer. Scientists in the United States believe that up to 70 percent. we are able to reduce the risk of breast cancer if we take care of primary prevention.
When it comes to secondary prevention, there is still a lot to do on this topic. It is commonly said that women do less screening once invitations to screening tests are no longer sent. However, we must be aware that the research concerns women from the age of 50, and yet more and more young women are ill. That is why we have been striving in such a way and we have been fighting for Breast Unity for several years. We want a woman who does not have a referral but feels anxious to be able to visit a center and be taken care of comprehensively.
At the moment, we have 11 Breast Units in Poland, we are striving for at least 40 of them, and looking at our population, there should be 70 of them. However, I believe that this is the case from the moment when the act on the possibility of creating Breast was published in 2019 Units – pretty good. I think Breast Unity is a chance that we will be able to diagnose patients earlier.
Do patients know about HER2 + early breast cancer? Do they ask about their therapeutic options if diagnosed?
Regardless of how much the patient knows, when the doctor reports the disease, she loses all her knowledge. It should be remembered that this is an emotionally difficult moment, so it usually takes a moment for a woman to be able to rationally approach the diagnosis. On the other hand, patients are often not satisfied with the knowledge provided by the doctor. Specialists do not always inform about all possible therapeutic options, especially those that are not reimbursed in Poland. Often, doctors also have a dilemma as to whether it is ethical to tell patients about drugs that are not reimbursed.
Are patients with early HER2 positive breast cancer undergoing therapy aware of the possibility of disease recurrence?
It depends on the patient’s personal attitude. There are women who want to know and be aware of a possible relapse. Usually these are those patients who are active during treatment. On the other hand, there are sick people who focus on the present situation and do not think about what will happen in the future.
How important is the patient’s support in the entire therapeutic process?
Very big of course. A woman should be helped both by the attending physician and her family, psycho-oncologist. Personally, I prefer such a patient to also have the support of an association, a group of people who have also been experienced by breast cancer. Thanks to this, she can obtain knowledge from conscious people.
Also read:
- Oncologists are on the brink: an incredible wave of tumors, people are begging for help
- More and more Polish women die of breast cancer. Money from the government is not helping
- It develops quickly, it is easy to mistake it for something else. It’s an insidious tumor
- Paulina Młynarska has undergone a prophylactic mastectomy. Up to 300 people qualify for it. Polish women
- They know they are dying. How do I talk to cancer patients?
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