The fatality rates of breast cancer patients have decreased, but survival still depends on early detection and keeping abreast of the facts.
Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancers among Australian women and one of the two leading causes of cancer-related deaths, with one in nine women diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85.
The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia has more than doubled in the past 20 years, but through community awareness, advanced treatment protocols and early detection, fatalities have decreased by 22 per cent in the last decade.
In 2018, more than two-thirds of breast cancers diagnosed in Australia were in women aged 40–69 and one quarter in women aged 70 and over. The risk of breast cancer increases with age, but that doesn’t mean the younger generations should be complacent – for women younger than 40 years, survival rates are lower.
Through awareness of the symptoms, self-checks, mammograms and an open relationship with your health professionals, early detection and therefore survival rates have increased. In fact, around nine out of 10 women whose cancer is diagnosed before it has spread outside the breast will be alive five years later, though if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body only about two out of 10 women will be alive. Thanks to breast cancer initiatives, the most recent data shows that about 91% of women will be alive after five years.
Self-check
There’s no right or wrong way to check your breasts and no special technique or training required. ‘It really is as simple as getting to know the normal look and feel of your breasts as part of everyday life and reporting any unusual changes to your doctor,’ says Professor Dorothy Keefe, Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia.
Knowing what is normal for you will help you to detect any changes and you don’t need to be an expert or use a special technique to check your breasts. Some changes to look for include:
- A new lump or lumpiness, especially if it’s only in one breast
- A change in the size or shape of your breast
- A change to the nipple such as crusting, ulcer, redness or inversion
- A nipple discharge that occurs without squeezing
- A change in the skin of your breast such as redness or dimpling
- An unusual pain that doesn’t go away
Most changes aren’t due to breast cancer but it’s important to see your doctor without delay if you notice any of these changes.
Find out more about your risk for breast cancer using Cancer Australia’s evidence-based breast cancer risk calculator.
