Breast cancer cases on rise, say doctors

Coimbatore: Loss of p53, a tumor-suppressor protein encoded by the TP53 gene, is the reason for nearly half the cases of breast cancer. Also known as cellular tumor antigen, p53 functions as a tumor suppressor that helps keep cancer at bay.  

“When p53 is mutated and the damage is beyond repair, the patient is prone to acquiring various forms of cancer, including breast cancer,” Dr P. Guhan, medical oncologist, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Oncology and Research (SRIOR) tells DC on Saturday, on the eve of World Breast Cancer Awareness month. An imbalanced diet, genetic patterns and a sedentary lifestyle can also cause breast cancer.

A 25-year-old unmarried woman is the youngest patient Dr Guhan treated for breast cancer. “As per the cancer registry of this hospital, in Coimbatore, 26 in every 1,00,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer,” he tells us. 

Sharing numbers, he adds, “In India 25 years ago, out of every hundred breast cancer patients, two per cent were in the 20-30 year age group, seven in the 30-40 year age group. Presently four percent are in the age group of 20-30 years and 16 percent in 30-40 years. An increasing number of patients are in the 20-40 year group and this is a very disturbing trend. In India, breast cancer is now the most common cancer in most cities and the second most common in rural areas.”

Rapid urbanisation and also certain modifiable risk factors like early menstruation, late or no pregnancy, late menopause, obesity, being physically inactive, using combination hormonal therapy as contraceptive- all these need to be addressed to bring down the incidence of breast cancer, believes Dr P. Guhan.