Launched by the Cancer Foundation in allusion to Pink October, breast cancer awareness month, the October + que rosa campaign has a greater objective which is to alert about the need for permanent health care on the part of women, and not only in a specific period of the year.
“The idea is to draw the attention of women to take care of their health, because the issue of breast cancer in October is punctual throughout the world, to draw attention to the problem, but that’s not all. It’s to be attentive to any sign of your body, don’t forget to do the preventive exams, maintain healthy habits; in short, a whole set of things that are always important for us to remember. That’s why, at the foundation, it’s always October + what a rose, he told Brazil Agency the executive director of the Cancer Foundation, oncological surgeon Luiz Augusto Maltoni. O slogan of the campaign is Cherish your health, take care of yourself.
Actress and singer Isabel Fillardis is the campaign’s ambassador. She participates in a series of videos posted on the Cancer Foundation’s social networks, asking questions related to breast cancer and women’s health, which are answered by Luiz Augusto Maltoni and the institution’s medical consultants, Alfredo Scaff and Flávia Miranda. “We need to warn women about the importance of taking care of themselves throughout the year, maintaining healthy habits, in addition to medical follow-up”, highlighted Isabell.
Signals and symptons
This year’s campaign highlights the need not to postpone consultations; take preventive exams; maintain healthy habits, especially not smoking. Maltoni reaffirmed the importance of women paying attention to the appearance of any signs and symptoms of breast problems, such as the appearance of lumps, abnormal nipple discharge other than milk, changes or retraction in the skin of the breast. “Finally, signs and symptoms that call attention that something is not right”, reinforced Maltoni.
The executive director of the Cancer Foundation indicated that this care is valid for any age. The woman who feels some change in the breasts has to look for a doctor from the health service to investigate, he recommended. According to him, this is different from when it comes to screening, that is, performing a mammogram as a preventive measure. In this case, the age group that should undergo mammography every two years ranges from 50 to 69 years, followed by a clinical examination by a health professional. “This is for that woman who is not feeling anything, has no symptoms, nor changes in her breasts”.
Maltoni reported that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 30% and 40% of all cancers could be prevented or have reduced the incidence of new cases if people maintained healthy lifestyles. They include a balanced diet rich in fiber, avoiding excesses of red meat, avoiding excess alcohol, not smoking, maintaining regular physical activity, avoiding overweight and obesity. “All these are risk factors not just for cancer, but for other diseases, especially cardiovascular ones.” Smoking, in particular, is considered by the oncology surgeon to be “a catastrophe” for several types of cancer and for several other diseases. “So, we reinforce and highlight this issue for the person to seek help”.
neoplasms
In Brazil, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in females and is the most common neoplasm among women, being less incident only than non-melanoma skin cancer. The National Cancer Institute (Inca) estimates that more than 66,000 new cases of breast cancer will appear in 2022 alone. Other types of cancer that are more common in women are cervical cancer, with an estimated 16,700 cases; colorectal, with 20,000 new cases; and lung cancer, which accounts for more than 12,000 cases each year, in the triennium 2020-2022, according to Inca.
