Neither teenagers nor adult women have their breasts examined. And it’s not because they can’t do it. They’re just afraid of finding a tumor. Few women get a Pap test, even if they get an invitation letter for a test. Here too fear is to blame. And although we have similar diagnosis and treatment options for early stage cancer as the rest of Europe, Polish women die more often than others. What to do to make Polish women want to check themselves regularly? This is discussed by doctors at the XNUMXth Congress of the Polish Society of Oncological Gynecology in Lulin.
- Polish women die of cancer more often than women in other countries. How to change it? Doctors discuss this at the XNUMXth Congress of the Polish Society of Oncological Gynecology in Lublin.
- The big problem is that tumors are detected too late, but women avoid cytology and do not examine the breasts. They delay the tests because they are afraid of the diagnosis.
- Education is needed to overcome women’s fear. Also educating doctors to be more friendly to women. Thanks to this, patients will have no worries and will appear more often for examinations.
– My nie leczymy nowotworów inaczej niż to się robi na całym świecie a wyniki mamy gorsze. Dlaczego? Dlatego, że rozpoznajemy chorobę w zbyt zaawansowanym stadium – podkreśla prof. dr hab. Jan Kotarski, prezes Polskiego Towarzystwa Ginekologii Onkologicznej, kierownik I Katedry i Kliniki Ginekologii Onkologicznej i Ginekologii Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Lublinie. – Jeżeli chcemy poprawić nasze wyniki leczenia onkologicznego to musimy chorobę rozpoznawać wcześniej. Idealnie byłoby, żeby jej zapobiegać. Stąd te działania profilaktyczne. To są te działania, które mają poprawić i w sposób istotny wpłynąć na zdrowie kobiet.
Meanwhile, the National Cervical Cancer Prevention Program implemented in Poland in 2005-2015, which even received an award in the European Parliament, did not bring the expected results. – He was very good, he was awarded the “Pearl of Wisdom” in Brussels, but it did not function at all – admits prof. Kotarski. – Reporting rate for invitations was in the order of 10 percent. However, this is not the fault of the doctors. This is the fault of the system, which is beyond the capacity of the gynecologist.
Women are afraid to go to the doctor because they are afraid to hear the diagnosis. – I keep hearing the same thing. “Because I’m afraid, because what will happen if I find out that I have cancer, what will happen to my children and my family?” – confirms prof. dr hab. Violetta Szczypulec – Plinta, head of the Department of Women’s Health, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice.
– This fear and fear is so strong that we have to work on it – emphasizes Joanna Rokoszewska-Łojko from the Rak’n’Roll Winning Life Foundation, which helps cancer patients. – We must make women realize that taking care of your own breasts is not only a health thing, but also a cosmetic one. This should be introduced into our lifestyle to take care of the breasts as well as the hair or nails.
It is good if women are also encouraged to do research by their relatives. – I really like the idea that on Women’s Day, men buy their women a voucher for smear tests, gynecological examinations and breast examinations – suggests prof. Pincers – Plint.
However, it takes time to change mentality and overcome barriers, because women are not forced to perform this type of research. – A woman will not do it until she gains confidence – says prof. Pincers – Plint. And he asks: Can anyone in this country understand that gynecological examination is a kind of breaking the barrier of intimacy? A woman has to undress, if she is lying on the armchair and the gynecologist talks to her, she will remember about 40 percent of it. Because we are concerned that we are lying in this chair. Therefore, a simple message is needed on the part of the doctor.
And unfortunately lame education. Experts emphasize that in Poland no one teaches teenagers and women, for example, breast self-examination. We also know little about cancer. This also applies to people who deal with science on a daily basis.
– I once analyzed who the patients are who are admitted to the hospital in an unfit condition and, unfortunately, the dominant profession was teachers – regrets Prof. Kotarski.
– There are no social and information campaigns in the field of cancer inheritance – notes Barbara Górska from the “Blue Butterfly” Association, established to fight ovarian cancer. – We come to girls who do not know that the disease of their loved ones may be closely related to the disease that has affected them. They often find out about it through word of mouth. Because someone told someone.
Doctors emphasize that in the case of cervical cancer, it is very important to vaccinate against the human papillomavirus (HPV) and that it becomes commonplace.
– Just as we vaccinate children so that they do not have measles, whooping cough (whooping cough), we can also vaccinate girls so that they do not have cervical cancer one day – emphasizes prof. Kotarski. – Because we know today that from the moment of infection to the moment when cervical cancer develops, a very long period of time passes – 5,10, 15, 20 years. We will also be able to observe the effects of vaccinating young girls not in a year, but in XNUMX years.
The effectiveness of the HPV vaccine is high, approx. 90 percent. – You need to vaccinate as many women as possible, and those who do not want to be vaccinated should be given thorough screening for these diseases – advises prof. Xavier Bosch from the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona (Spain), an outstanding expert in cervical pathology. Prof. Bosch adds that in countries like Australia, where HPV immunization is the highest, women are vaccinated up to the age of 26, not just children.
Dane Krajowego Rejestru Nowotworów:
Breast cancer it is the most common malignant neoplasm in women. It is estimated that 1,5 million women worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, and about 400 die of it.
Cervical cancer to trzeci pod względem częstości zachorowań nowotwór u kobiet na świecie. Polska należy do krajów o średniej zachorowalności na ten nowotwór. Jednak w przypadku tej choroby nasz kraj ma jeden z najwyższych wskaźników umieralności w Europie.