SASKATOON – Each day, 40 women in Canada learn they have breast cancer. Another 14 die from it.
After heart disease and lung cancer, breast cancer is the leading cause of death for Canadian women. And, for unknown reasons, breast cancer cases have been rising in recent years.
At a breast cancer survivors conference here, a panel of doctors outlined the standard treatment that breast cancer sufferers can expect. It begins when a lump is discovered in a woman’s breast, either by the woman, her partner or her doctor.
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Then, the woman undergoes tests to confirm if it is cancer. If it is, it’s followed by immediate surgery, then radiation and sometimes chemotherapy. If the cancer is too strong, there is palliative care.
In response to a question about the impact of health cuts on breast cancer treatment, Dr. Leonard Rivers, a Saskatoon surgeon, noted cancer patients are a priority for health districts. With cuts, the ones who will have to wait longer are non-cancer patients on optional surgery lists.
Another woman asked who the patient should trust to co-ordinate her team of doctors. Rivers said the general surgeon likely has that role. However, another woman said she asked her family doctor to serve as her advocate because he knew her as a “whole person, not a cancer case.”
Saskatoon medical professor Dr. Ali Al-Tweigeri noted that 70 percent of patients who are diagnosed early with breast cancer are cured after surgery and radiation. Only 30 percent also require chemotherapy. The size of the tumor and how quickly it grows are factors determining whether to take this treatment.
Advanced cancer treatment
He said bone marrow transplants, such as Laura Evans had (see accompanying story) are now offered to patients with advanced cancer.
When treatment has no impact on the cancer the emphasis shifts to active, compassionate care of the patient and her family, said Regina palliative doctor Zach Thomas. Counselling and care, that enhance the quality of life the woman has left, deal with a terminal patient’s biggest fears – pain and loneliness.
Some patients also use alternative therapies, which have a bad reputation as quack ripoffs.
Dr. Anne Leis, of the University of Saskat-chewan medical college, said complementary approaches can be useful. The best ones emphasize healing over curing, which means the internal process of becoming whole, rather than ridding someone of a disease.
While only 15 percent of Canadians use these unconventional therapies, Americans are twice as likely to, according to a 1994 survey, she said. Treatments can range from changing diets, to taking herbs, to spiritual practices, to using various devices. While Leis was unwilling to comment on the value of any one therapy, she did urge cancer survivors to get references from patients of an unconventional therapist. They should also evaluate the therapist’s training, any claims made, his personality, any research done on the therapy and what he says about standard medical practices.
Leis said the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan defines an acceptable therapy as fulfilling three factors: It has to be supported in scientific literature; it has to be shown to be better than no treatment; and it has to be equivalent to or better than previous treatments.
Nurse Doreen Kyplain told the conference aboriginal treatments also deal with wholeness and spirituality. She said Indians have become unhealthy and die 10 years sooner than whites because some have forgotten their culture and respect for the environment.
