NEW_BREAST CANCER POLICY

BREAST
Cancer

South Africa’s new Breast Cancer Prevention and Control Policy is a vital document aimed at prioritising breast cancer awareness, prevention, treatment and care in South Africa. Once fully implemented, it will secure access to a network of dedicated regional breast units that will not only improve early detection rates, but also establish guidelines for optimal treatment and palliative care to help drive down death rates from this cancer, which has become a leading cause of death of South African women.


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BREAST CANCER CONTROL POLICY

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AWARENESS AND PREVENTION

The case for early detection is very clear: In South Africa, the majority of women with breast cancer are diagnosed when their disease is already advanced, resulting in five-year survival rates from 40% to as low as just 10%.

If, however, they lived elsewhere, where early detection and basic treatment are both available and accessible, their five-year survival rate for early localised breast cancer would be a comparative more than 80%.

It is exactly for this reason – to avoid unnecessary suffering and death – that improving early detection rates is top of the list of strategic objectives for the country’s new Breast Cancer Control Policy.

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ACCESS TO CARE

With resources and expertise variable across health facilities – so impacting the achievement of standard levels of care for all breast cancer patients – the new policy calls for Regional Breast Units (RBUs) to be set up all at regional hospitals. In addition, the most appropriate facilities must be identified for the establishment of Specialist Breast Units (SBUs) to create a network of care that combats treatment delays, while ensuring the best use of available resources.

The SBUs are the third link in the referral pathway chain – after primary healthcare clinics and district hospitals, and before Provincial Oncology Units (PCUs) at tertiary hospitals. The POUs are where multidisciplinary teams meet to secure rapid bidirectional referral of patient information, which is critical to prevent inappropriate appointments or delays.

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TREATMENT & PALLIATIVE CARE

Breast cancer management relies on a firm foundation of a multidisciplinary team. The “core” team comprises a surgeon, pathologist, radiologist, medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist. The intention is that from the start of a patient’s treatment there is an individual plan, tailored to the exact stage and type of breast cancer that the patient has.

– The Breast Health Foundation

Breast cancer is treated in several ways, depending on the type, and how far it has spread. It’s likely you could also get more than one kind of treatment, but the options include:

  • Surgery, when doctors will cut out the cancer tissue.
  • Chemotherapy, when they use medication to shrink or kill the cancer cells. This medication could be in the form of pills, be given as a drip into your veins, or a combination of both.
  • Hormonal therapy, which blocks the cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.
  • Biological therapy, which works with your body’s immune system to help it fight the cancer cells, or to control side-effects you may be experiencing from other cancer treatments.
  • Radiation therapy, which uses high-energy rays similar to x-rays to kill the cancer cells.

Treatment of breast cancer is a key area of the new policy, and stipulates that if you have early breast cancer you should undergo either breast-conserving surgery (BCS) or a mastectomy.

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