A general medical practitioner at Medifem Multispecialty Hospital and Fertility Centre, Dr. Perfect Coker, has dispelled the notion that breast cancer patients must always end up with their affected breasts being cut off.
According to Dr. Coker, this notion is completely wrong and has deterred a lot of women with breast cancer from seeking treatment.
Speaking in a GhanaWeb Special interview to mark the 2022 Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the doctor noted that there are a lot of treatments for breast cancer that do not involve the chopping off of the infected breast.
“Depending on what stage you find the cancer, you can plan the treatment that suits the person. There is surgical management and there is management with medication, that is chemotherapy, there is hormone therapy and then there is management with radiation therapy (radiotherapy).
“You may do one or a combination of these in managing the breast cancer depending on the stage at which the cancer was noticed, the type of cancer, the size and other factors,” Dr. Coker told GhanaWeb’s Stella Dziedzorm Sogli.
“People usually think once you have breast cancer, they are going to cut your breast. A lot of factors go into deciding that. It doesn’t mean that for everyone who has breast cancer that is the only thing that necessarily has to be done. For some, they may take out the cancer and keep the breast and you will be okay,” she added.
She further stated that the most important thing is for women to check their breasts at least once a month and also seek medical attention as soon as they notice a change in their breast.
She added that finding the cancer at the early stage is important because it makes its management and treatment easier.
