By Fatou Sanneh
It is widely believed that old age is a major risk factor for breast cancer but there are exceptions. Ms. Ida Ceesay, 43, was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago when she was just 33 years old. This is to dispel the belief that breast cancer rarely affects younger people, especially women.
“My journey started at 33; I like to reiterate that because most people think that breast cancer affects only older people but that is not always the case. It can affect young people as well, as long as you have breast, you are at risk of having breast cancer,’’ Ms. Ceesay stated.
According to America Cancer Society, breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women. The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is 62. This means half of the women who developed breast cancer are 62 years of age or younger when they are diagnosed. A very small number of women diagnosed with breast cancer are younger than 45.
Ms. Ceesay is a breast cancer activist now based in The Gambia. She is committed to fighting for the rights of breast cancer patients and raising awareness and providing support to the patients and victims of breast cancer. Hence she and other activists formed the Cancer Association League, The Gambia.
She is the only known breast cancer survivor who openly advocates for the rights of breast cancer patients in the country. Due to ignorance and stigma, most Gambian if not all breast cancer patients and survivors stayed away from the spotlight.
Breast Cancer is the most common diagnosed cancer and a leading cause of death among women worldwide. An estimated 2.3 million new breast cancer cases were discovered and 685000 breast cancer deaths in 2020.In the Gambia, 80% of breast cancer patients don’t survive the disease.
Ms. Ceesay stated that most Gambian women died of breast cancer because most of the time they would go the traditional route seeking a cure before seeking medical treatment; by then it has reached stage four and it is too late.
She has been free of cancer for 10 years until four months ago when she was diagnosed with cancer in another part of her body. She was able to do another treatment in the USA and she is now cancer free once again.
According to Centre for Disease Control and Protection (CDC), USA, breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. There are different kinds of breast cancer. The kind of breast cancer depends on which cells in the breast turn into cancer. Breast cancer can begin in different parts of the breast. A breast is made up of three main parts: lobules, ducts, and connective tissue. Breast cancer can spread outside the breast through blood vessels and lymph vessels. When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is said to have metastasized.
Research has shown that invasive breast cancer is the most common type of cancer, where the cancer cells have spread through the lining of the ducts into the surrounding breast tissue.These invasive cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body.
Doctors estimate that about 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers are linked to gene mutations passed through generations of a family. A number of inherited mutated genes that can increase the likelihood of breast cancer have been identified.
Breast cancer symptoms include a breast lump or thickening that feels different from the surrounding tissue, changes in the size, shape or appearance of a breast, changes to the skin over the breast, such as dimpling, a newly inverted nipple and redness or pitting of the skin over your breast, like the skin of an orange.
One of the most common risk factors of breast cancer is simply being a female because breast cancer is very rare cancer among men. Studies have it that about 1 out of 100 everyman has been diagnosed with breast cancer while 1 out of 7 every women has breast cancer in the USA. Other risk factors include obesity, alcoholism and radiation exposure.
Ways of reducing the risk of breast cancer are by regular exercise, eating healthy, maintaining a healthy weight and regular screening.
