In recent decades, the lifestyle of Malaysians has changed. Lack of physical activities, low fruit and vegetable intake, tobacco and alcohol use, inadequate sleep duration, and obesity increase an individual’s risk of developing cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women. One in every 19 Malaysian women has a chance of getting breast cancer. Breast cancer is also the leading cause of death for Malaysian women with cancer.

In 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 2.3 million new breast cancer cases were diagnosed, and 700,000 people died because of breast cancer worldwide.

In the same year, there were 8,418 new breast cancer cases and 3,505 breast cancer deaths in Malaysia¹.

Overall, Malaysia’s breast cancer’s 5-year survival rate is 66.8 percent, which is much lower than the rates reported in other Asian countries such as Singapore (79.0 percent), South Korea (92.6 percent) and Japan (96.2 percent).^2,3,4

The Malaysia National Cancer Report published in 2019 reported that almost half (47.9 percent) of breast cancer cases were detected at a late stage (III & IV), higher than the previous report in 2015, which was 43.2 percent.

The 5-year survival rate for stage 1 breast cancer is 87.5 percent, followed by stage 2 at 80.7 percent, stage 3 at 59.7 percent, and stage 4 at just 23.3 percent².

If breast cancer is detected earlier, it has a better chance of being treated successfully. Early breast examination and mammography detection can prevent diagnosis of advanced breast cancer.

In conjunction with October Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there is a month of global campaign to increase public awareness of breast cancer prevention and encourage early detection.

Not only women but also men, remind your loved ones, such as mother, wife, sisters, and even friends, to practice monthly breast self-examination and go for regular mammogram screenings.

Early detection and early treatment can help to save her life!

References:

1. International Agency for Research on Cancer Malaysia
2. Ministry of Health Malaysia: Malaysian study on cancer survival (MySCan) 2018
3. Nakamura K, Okada E, Ukawa S, Hirata M, Nagai A, Yamagata Z, et al. Characteristics and prognosis of Japanese female breast cancer patients: the BioBank Japan project. J Epidemiol. 2017;27:S58–S64
4. Lee SB, Sohn G, Kim J, Chung IY, Kim HJ, Ko BS, et al. Chronological improvement in survival of patients with breast cancer: a large-scale, single-center study. J Breast Cancer. 2018;21:70–79

(Dr. Soh Yih Harng, DrPH candidate, and Professor Dr. Moy Foong Ming, Center for Epidemiology & Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.)