Don’t ignore that lump in your breast

IT could be harmless, but it could also be cancerous. Whatever size or form, discovering a lump in the breast warrants a visit to the doctor to rule out the possibility of cancer.

Windhoek-based marketing manager Patricia Pickering learned this lesson in 2017 when she visited her doctor for a routine health check-up.

Pickering was 42 years old when her doctor advised her to undergo a breast examination.

“I was not nervous, but somewhere at the back of my mind, I knew,” she said, adding that her intuition told her she could have breast cancer.

Doctors discovered a cancerous lump in her right breast.

She was told she had stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer, and began chemotherapy in December 2017.

Doctors often recommend that women over the age of 40 undergo a mammography examination to detect cancerous tissue, although younger women should also go for regular check-ups.

After examining her breasts and spotting cancerous breast tissue, doctors resorted to a biopsy, making a small incision under her right arm where the cancerous tissue was detected.

The tissue was extracted and sent to a lab in Namibia for further testing.

Pickering, however, travelled to Johannesburg, in South Africa, for a second opinion.

While there, she did a breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and received advice on the best treatment options available to her.

Between December 2017 and July of the following year, Pickering went through six rounds of chemotherapy and, in this period, returned to the hospital daily to receive an injection because the chemo made her blood count low.

Pickering, who describes herself as a strong woman, underwent regular mammographies, screenings and chemotherapy, and was determined to complete her treatment despite how hectic the process was.

“I was quite in touch with my body,” she said, adding that she did not feel uncomfortable during her screenings and treatment as is the case with a lot of women. She also had a double mastectomy, which is a surgical procedure to remove both breasts, along with reconstructive surgery.

“But you have to know how to be strong – it can be a very depressing process,” the survivor admits.

Today, Pickering is cancer free and living a healthy lifestyle. She also encourages her daughters, aged 17 and 23, to be vigilant of any signs of breast cancer, including lumps in the breast.

The breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology has played an important role as a means for breast cancer screening, especially for women who are at an increased risk.

Windhoek-based radiologist, and partner at Medical Imaging Namibia doctor Faiz Petkar said a mammogram is usually the standard examination for breast cancer screening.

MRIs can detect tumours that mammograms sometimes cannot.

However, both can be used to detect breast cancer. He said the biggest advantage of mammography is that it detects very tiny cancer in the breast.

He added that 3D mammography, for example, works by taking a picture of the breast, like an X-ray, with different views of the breasts that are projected on to a high definition screen and observed for any abnormalities.

This is also called 3D tomography, 3D tomosynthesis or breast tomosynthesis (an advanced form of mammography).

The doctor dispelled the myth that radiation from a mammography can cause cancer.

“I think we’re in a state where there’s so much radiation around us, but it’s a very low dose process and not going to be the cause of cancer,” he noted, adding that a mammography is not detrimental to patients’ health.

He encouraged breast screening from the age of forty for patients with no family history of cancer.

However, those who have cancer that run in the family are encouraged to go for screening sooner.

“In conjunction with a mammogram, we’ll do an ultrasound of the breast as well. We don’t always need to do that, but at forty years of age, the breast tissue is still what we call dense, so there’s quite a bit of tissue there,” the specialist explained.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.