Herbal Health

When cancer spreads, via the blood or lymph to other areas of the body, this is termed metastasizing, and new tumours are called secondaries. Although the cancer that has spread may be in a new part of the body, it is still referred to as the cancer of origin and treated accordingly. Breast cancer that has spread to, say, the liver is not treated in the same way as primary cancer of the liver.     Some cancer cells develop pseudopodia, or ‘feet’, to push out into surrounding tissue. They can also secrete an enzyme which dissolves the cement between neighbouring cells, making it easier for them to migrate. Strengthening this cellular cement is an important nutritional tool in the arsenal against breast cancer.     Statistics-While carrying out research, I found that the majority of articles dealing with breast cancer started with statistics depicting the mortality rate for the disease. Reading this can be depressing if you have just been diagnosed with cancer, and hanging on to the idea that you are an individual, and not a statistic, is essential. Is a glass half empty, or half full? For every report you read telling you that X per cent die, the fact is that Y per cent live.     Having said this, we are in a crisis at the moment and the incidence of breast cancer is on the increase. The World Health Organization says that worldwide, the breast cancer incidence is set to double by the year 2020.     In less than thirty years incidence has increased by 40 per cent, from around 22,000 cases per year in the UK in 1971 to 30,000 cases at the end of the 1990s. Nowadays one in eleven women can expect to develop breast cancer at some point in their lives in the UK, and one in eight if they live in the USA.     Bad news tends to be more widely reported than good news and the figures of a death rate from breast cancer of 15,000 each year in the UK and 46,000 a year in the USA doesn’t make happy reading (in fact during the Vietnam War when 60,000 troops died, 330,000 American women died from breast cancer in the same period). What you rarely see reported is the good news – more than 70 per cent of women who have breast cancer that is operable will be alive and well five years after the diagnosis – and maybe longer: longer-term figures are not available.     It is recognized that advancing years are a major risk factor, with the majority of women diagnosed being post-menopausal. However, around 15 per cent of breast cancers happen in women of child-bearing age and there seems to be an increase in incidence2 in the twenty to forty age group. In England and Wales the figures3 for all age groups showed an increase of 28 per cent from 1980 to 1994 (the latest year for which accurate figures are available). And yet younger women, up to the age of thirty-nine, showed a 40 per cent increase, from 1,235 cases in 1980 to 1,713 cases in 1994.*38\240\2*

Replacement prostheses

If you have been treated under the NHS, you can request a new prosthesis when your existing one begins to show signs of wear, is damaged, or if you gain or lose enough weight to make a significant difference in the sizes of your breasts.

If there is a breast care nurse at your hospital, she will be able to arrange a fitting for you to choose a replacement. If you were previously fitted by an appliance fitter, contact the hospital appliance department for advice – you may need the authorization of your GP, consultant or breast care nurse, and the appliance fitter will be able to advise you about what to do.

Bras

An underwired bra will put pressure on the silicone of a permanent prosthesis which could cause it to split. Underwired bras should therefore be avoided, perhaps except for the odd special occasion.

Bras worn with prostheses should be able to hold the breast shape in place and prevent it slipping about, but otherwise there is no restriction on the type of bra which can be worn.

Your breasts should be accurately measured and you should make sure that your bra fits well. It may be worth asking at a large department store if there is staff experienced in fitting women following breast surgery.

If necessary, you can ask the breast care nurse or appliance officer about having a pocket fitted to your bra in which to insert your prosthesis. This service is usually available on the NHS.

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