MOZAMBIQUE REGISTERS HIGH INCIDENCE OF BREAST CANCER

The president of the Mozambican Association for the Fight against Cancer, Patricia da Silva said on Sunday in Maputo that Mozambique is suffering from a high rate of breast cancer.Da Silva spoke to AIM after a march of women through the streets of central Maputo, held to alert society to the problem of breast cancer.“I do not have a total number for cases of breast cancer for the country, but Maputo Central Hospital (HCM) registers about 10 new cases per month, which is a lot”, warned da Silva. “We recorded 240 cases in 2008/2009 and this is a very high incidence rate. Were we to compile cases of breast cancer for the entire country it might double that number”.She urged women to check their bodies to find anomalies that may indicate breast cancer, to allow early treatment.“We want this campaign to alert and draw the attention of all women to take care of themselves”, da Silva stressed. “If they spot an anomaly in their bodies they should seek medical help, by going to health centres in order to be examined to assess whether they have cancer”.Breast cancer is a malign tumor most commonly fund in when over the age of 40. The disease is characterized by the appearance of a lump in the breast as a result of abnormal proliferation of cells that leads to the development of a tumor.However, not all lumps and nodules that appear in breasts are cancers. In some cases they are only small cysts and are benign.