Yang Mei

yangmei_szdaily@163.com

OCTOBER is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer. On Saturday, Dr. Wang Bufei, chair of Family Medicine of Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital (UFH), was invited to give a free health talk on early detection of cancers and prevention recommendations to raise people’s awareness for cancers.

Dr. Wang has over 10 years of experience in clinical practice. She is a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners and a registered general practitioner in the U.K.

The health seminar, which took place at Nanshan International Cultural Exchange & Service Center (NSIC), was jointly organized by Shenzhen Women’s International Club (SWIC), UFH and NSIC.

At the beginning of her presentation, Dr. Wang pointed out that breast cancer is the most common type of cancer found in women worldwide. She reminded her all-female audience to recognize any changes to their breasts and to be alarmed about signs and symptoms including persistent breast pain, lump or thickening, any change in the size or shape of the breast, nipple discharge (other than breast milk), dimpling of breast skin, and skin rash or redness around the nipple.

In terms of main risk factors for breast cancer, Dr. Wang said being a woman and getting older are the primary factors. She also mentioned uncontrollable factors that may increase risk such as family history. In addition, having changes in certain breast cancer genes (e.g., BRCA1) increases the risk of developing breast cancer.

Other risk factors are lifestyle related, including using hormone therapy after menopause, drinking alcohol, being overweight or obese, and not being physically active.

Cervical cancer is another type of cancer for which women are at risk. Dr. Wang advised women to get HPV vaccination before the age of 26.

According to SWIC’s president Pollyanna Koh, every week throughout October, SWIC organizes events to raise its members’ awareness for breast cancer.