Breast and self -implementing cancer: why are we always talking about it late?

October is the month dedicated to the prevention of female diseases, but it is really right to activate, talk about cancer and prevention only Now? 

For us not.

Inform, discuss and, above all, do prevention They must be a constant that accompanies our habits throughout the year, carried out thanks to activism and continuous sharing: from health professionals to patients, to each one of us.

That's why we, all together, here on Periodic We want to make our contribution: to create awareness of the breast cancer, but above all on what we can do concretely to prevent it and, if necessary, to diagnose it early.

This is because one early diagnosis It corresponds to greater probability of healing: that is, it is the concrete possibility of saving lives, if found in the initial phase (almost 90%). 

In particular, after a pandemic that blocked the programs of screening (in fact, 80% of diagnostic radiologies remained closed during the months of Lockdown), causing a devastating impact in terms of diagnostic delay and adequate care, unfortunately, by oncological patients and each person in need of participating in the screening ( Maybe simply for age, perhaps for important risk factors, such as the genetic and family), it is necessary to explain and inform how to make prevention and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle inside our homes.

Every year, in fact, in Italy about Italy 55,000 women They get sick with breast cancer (although we are used to talking about it in the singular, there are different types) and the risk gradually increases with advancing age. 

The percentage of breast cancer under 50 years of age, that is, that age group excluded from the screening area, which is why the age threshold at 40 years of age for entry into the program is strongly growing. And the importance of making prevention is underlined through the breast visit and breast ultrasound as early as 30 years and self -examination every month, the latter aimed at Tuttə Quantə.

How to perform palpation appropriately? 

Here are some simple instructions.

• We begin by choosing one day of the month in which to do it and always repeat it on the same day every month (preferably at the end of the menstrual cycle, when the breast is less painful).
• Let's put nudə in front of the mirror and observe the shape and symmetry of our breast:
• First with the arms along the body
• Then with your hands on the sides, turning left and right to observe the sides of the breast
• Finally, with your hands behind the neck
• Now let's start palpation:
• We bring an arm behind the neck and with the three pulpters of index, medium and ringing of the other hand we kindly palpted, but with firmness, the entire breast
• We press the nipple to check for any variations in consistency and secretions
• We also touch the area of ​​the axle, because there is a piece of mammary gland that deserves our care
• To be sure not to leave out an area, we use one of these schemes:
• Spiral scheme: starting from the outside we create a spiral by bringing ourselves inwards to end on the nipple;
• Scheme from top to bottom: we create imaginary lines from top to bottom;
• Star scheme: we walk the lines that make up a star using the nipple as a central reference.
• What do you pay attention to?
• Nodules or irregularities;
• With orange peel skin, thickenings or redness;
• In the presence of secretions or retractions of the nipple;
• The variation of the shape or in the presence of rashes on the breast.
• We repeat the scheme in the same way also on the other breast and repeat the same procedure, but this time Destesə in bed, with a pillow under our back.

What if we find or feel something? 

Let's not panic: the so -called "nodules" are not, in most cases, worrying. Benign lesions, in fact, represent about 90% of the conditions that lead a woman to a breast visit and usually manifest themselves between 30 and 50 years. 

Book in a hurry a visit from the senologist who will professionally exclude that the injury can be cancer and calculate the possible risk that a tumor will develop from this lesion, providing us with the instructions on things to do (among others how to access a screening program ) in the future. 

A future that can be possible for many more people if we all inform, share and prevent in our small way and in our daily life.

And not only during a month of the year.

Thus self -evolution becomes the basis of the prevention of breast cancer, both female and male (which represent 1% of all breast cancers, about 500 every year), because it is a pathology that may affect both sexes.

Sexes that, united and constantly engaged in the struggle and research against breast cancer, bring wonderful news, such as that of a few days ago: the doctors Antonella Sistigu and Martina Musella, in fact, conducted a study that discovered the resistance mechanism of care cancer and, with combined therapy that inhibits the action of the KDM1B protein, the cancerous proliferation could be slowed down in 15% of patients who do not respond to drugs.

And it is thanks to the prevention and research that the fight against this cancer becomes possible.

What can we do to support it?

Here are some possibilities:

• Buy The walnuts for research of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, present in most supermarkets;
• Participating and supporting the initiative pink ribbon of AIRC (AIRC Foundation for Cancer Research), always on the field in the struggle and care against breast cancer;
• Through the challenge launched by Lookiero #DANCEFORMYBREAST: a choreography to easily teach gestures to perform breast self -evasion, the first step for prevention. For each ballet posted on Instagram or Tiktok during the month October € 1 will be given to the Ieo - Monzino Institute (European Institute of Oncology), engaged in research against cancer;
• With the initiative Follow the Pink The IEO-Monzino Institute starts an important fundraising with the participation of various brands through the sale of its products dedicated to the Pink/Peach Octaber;
• During the month of prevention, Avon puts a candle for sale for a fundraising intended for research and invites people to share the 3 words that best describe their breasts using the hashtag #NormalePerMe, with the aim of making breast health conversations simple and normal and helping people to know the signs of breast cancer and how to act.

Tuttə We can participate in the fight against this cancer! It is up to us to try to disseminate and perform regularly practices of autopalpation and control visits.

Lorenzo Ciol