Are rural women aware of breast cancer and do they practice breast self-examination? A cross-sectional study in a rural hospital in South India.

Breast cancer remains a public health problem with 2.09 million cases and 627,000 deaths in the world each year.[1] Breast cancer has overtaken cervical cancer to become the most common cancer among Indian women.[2] While mortality due to breast cancer is decreasing in developed countries, in India both hospital- and population-based cancer registries indicate that the incidence, as well as mortality of breast cancer, is on the rise.[345] The age of the incidence of breast cancer in Asian countries is between 40 and 50 years, while it is 60–70 years in Western countries,[6] indicating that Asian women in their productive years are being affected. Though breast cancer allows for early diagnosis and successful treatment, survival seems to be poor in developing countries owing to a lack of awareness and screening along with poor access to timely and standard care.[78

Ramadan Fasting and Cancer ...

Ramadan Fasting and Cancer Prevention: Key Mechanisms

Ramadan fasting may help in cancer prevention by influencing several biological processes:

1. Cellular Repair (Autophagy): Fasting activates autophagy, clearing damaged cells and reducing the risk of cancerous mutations.

2. Lowered Insulin & IGF-1: Reduces growth factors that fuel cancer cell proliferation.

3. Anti-Inflammatory Effects: Suppresses chronic inflammation, a major contributor to cancer development.

4. DNA Protection & Oxidative Stress Reduction: Enhances DNA repair while minimizing oxidative damage.

5. Gut Health Improvement: Supports a healthy microbiome, lowering gastrointestinal cancer risks.

6. Weight & Metabolic Regulation: Helps control obesity, a key factor in various cancers.

While promising, fasting alone isn’t a cancer cure; a balanced diet, regular check-ups, and a healthy lifestyle are essential for prevention.

A clearer picture of Covid’s lasting effects on the body.

Some of these effects, such as chronic fatigue and brain fog, are considered long Covid, defined as symptoms from an infection that persist for at least three months.

Five years — and hundreds of millions of cases — after the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists are getting a clearer picture of how the virus can affect the body long after an infection seems to pass.

Some of Covid’s effects became apparent soon after the virus began spreading. We quickly understood how deadly an infection could be, especially for those with underlying conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

But it has taken years of research to start making sense of how a bout of Covid can lead to lasting, sometimes invisible changes in different parts of the body.

Some of these effects, such as chronic fatigue and brain fog, are considered long Covid, defined as symptoms from an infection that persist for at least three months. By some estimates, 400 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with some form of long Covid.

But an infection can also lead to other issues, including lung and heart damage and microbiome changes in the gut, that may not always be recognized as long Covid but can still have a lasting effect on our health.

We now have a better sense of what might be behind those changes, including the role of the widespread inflammation that Covid can cause. For most people, inflammation will subside once the virus clears.

But for some, if it “rages” too intensely or persists as a “slow burn” for too long, it can wreak havoc around the body, said Dr. Braden Kuo, a neurogastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Here’s what scientists have learned so far about inflammation and the other factors driving these effects.

Diagnosis of Breast Cancer.

The classic diagnostic triad of breast cancer is clinical examination, imaging, and pathological assessment. Any woman presenting with a painless breast lump, axillary lymph nodes (ALNs), blood-stained nipple discharge, recent onset change in the nipple, skin of the breast should be regarded with suspicion irrespective of age. The index of suspicion of breast cancer after Clinico-radiological examination is confirmed by pathology. A trucut/needle biopsy is the gold standard of diagnosis. An FNAC may be non-representative, non-conclusive, or hemorrhagic, and a negative FNAC does not always rule out a malignancy when the index of clinical suspicion is high.

Breast Cancer in India. alarming data..

The incidence of breast cancer is increasing rapidly in urban India due to the changing lifestyle and exposure to risk factors. Diagnosis at an advanced stage and in younger women are the most concerning issues of breast cancer in India. Lack of awareness and social taboos related to cancer diagnosis make women feel hesitant to seek timely medical advice. As almost half of women develop breast cancer at an age younger than 50 years, breast cancer diagnosis poses a huge financial burden on the household and impacts the entire family. Moreover, inaccessibility, unaffordability, and high out-of-pocket expenditure make this situation grimmer. Women find it difficult to get quality cancer care closer to their homes and end up traveling long distances for seeking treatment. Significant differences in the cancer epidemiology compared to the west make the adoption of western breast cancer management guidelines challenging for Indian women. In this article, we intend to provide a comprehensive review of the management of breast cancer from diagnosis to treatment for both early and advanced stages from the perspective of low-middle-income countries. Starting with a brief introduction to epidemiology and guidelines for diagnostic modalities (imaging and pathology), treatment has been discussed for early breast cancer (EBC), locally advanced, and MBC. In-depth information on loco-regional and systemic therapy has been provided focusing on standard treatment protocols as well as scenarios where treatment can be de-escalated or escalated

Breast cancer surpasses lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwideBashar, MD Abu; Begam, Nazia1

As per the latest global cancer burden estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialized agency for cancer research of World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer now tops the list of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide, surpassing lung cancer for the first time.[¹]

The global cancer burden has been estimated to have risen to 19.3 million new cases and 10.0 million deaths in 2020.[²] One in 5 people globally develop cancer during their lifetime, and one in 8 men and one in 11 women are dying from the disease. Similarly, the total number of people who are alive within 5 years of a cancer diagnosis – called the 5-year prevalence – is estimated to be 50.6 million worldwide.[²]

The 10 most common cancer types account for more than 60% of the total newly diagnosed cancer cases and more than 70% of the total cancer deaths.[¹] Female breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer worldwide (11.7% of the total new cases), followed by lung cancer (11.4%), colorectal cancer (10.0%), prostate cancer (7.3%), and stomach cancer (5.6%). Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death (18.0% of the total cancer deaths), followed by colorectal cancer (9.4%), liver cancer (8.3%), stomach cancer (7.7%), and female breast cancer (6.9%).[¹] In men, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer (14.3% of all diagnosed cancers in males) and the leading cause of cancer deaths (21.5% of all cancer deaths in males), followed by prostate cancer and colorectal cancer for incidence and liver cancer and colorectal cancer for mortality. In women, breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death, followed by colorectal cancer and lung cancer for incidence and lung cancer and colorectal cancer for mortality.[¹]

Cancer incidence and mortality estimates in 2022 in southeast Asia: a comparative analysis