MANILA, Philippines – The statistics had never really interested her, but when another of her four sisters was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy, Susan H. began to get really worried.

“I was very young when my two older sisters were stricken, and they were living in the States, so I wasn’t too involved,” she explains. But when a third sister was diagnosed with the same disease last year, that’s when it really hit home.

“I was afraid, but not so much for myself anymore. I kind of felt I would be the next to fall and that I was doomed anyway. It felt like a curse and I was worried because I have a daughter. I wanted to find out if there was any way she could escape it.”

Susan, who is in her early 50s, was willing to concede her own vulnerability to cancer , but wants to give her daughter a fighting chance against it. “I needed to learn everything I could— like what’s the probability that she could get sick too? When is it most likely to happen? Is there anything we can possibly do to prevent or escape it, or is every woman in our family doomed by a cancer bloodline?”

The answers to these questions should give hope to other women who are most at risk of getting breast cancer, or who are already stricken and must receive treatment for it.

“Acknowledging that you are at risk is the first step,” affirms Dr. Kelly S. Salvador, executive director of the Philippine Cancer Society (PCS). “And definitely you are high risk for breast cancer if you have a first degree relative who has had cancer. You might want to have yourself checked carefully, or at least undertake preventive measures so that you can delay the cancer incidence in your family.”

Cancer is the fourth leading cause of death among Filipinos, the PCS reports. Among Filipino women, the breast is the leading cancer site, with the most number of cases per million population (approx. 14,000), almost double that of the second-ranked site, the cervix uteri (approx. 7,300). Like colon cancer, it is known to run in families along the first degree line.

The chances of getting the disease may be high, but that does not mean one is doomed to a dreaded fate. “The threat or risk will always be there—but you can do something about it,” says Salvador. “We have seen lots of people who, even if they have a family line of a particular kind of cancer, do not have it.”

Most people who’ve consciously tried to avoid or delay the development of cancer have been successful, he says, adding: “If you know you have a cancer line in the family, you’d like to maintain a healthy lifestyle by having better nutritional support throughout your lifetime.”

What this means, he explains, is cutting down on foods that can become carcinogenic substances, having regular exercise and maintaining an ideal body weight.

The good news is that one-third of all cancers can be cured, and breast cancer is among those, if detected early enough and treated properly. There are five steps that can help women prevent the risk of cancer that runs in the family and plan their defense:

1. Stick to a healthy diet. This means high-carbohydrate, low-fat foods that are rich in starch (such as cereals and tubers) with a substantial intake of fruits and vegetables. The micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables such as vitamins and minerals maintain the defense mechanisms that protect the body.

2. Avoid an unhealthy diet. This refers to foods rich in fat, salt, free sugars, and/or in smoked, salt-pickled and salt-preserved foods.

3. Maintain physical fitness. Do regular exercise and proper weight management.

4. Go for a medical check-up. It is perfectly alright to go for an executive check-up even if you do not have any symptoms or do not suspect anything. Salvador advises going to a family medicine doctor, a general practitioner or an internist rather than a specialist. Initially, they are in the best position to conduct an unbiased assessment from a total perspective.

5. Understand the importance of regular monitoring and the processes for early detection. These include:

a. Breast self-exam (BSE)—This should be done once a month, preferably a week after a woman’s monthly period

b. Mammography—a screening procedure that may discover cancers that are too small to be felt manually. Women with no personal or family history of breast cancer should undergo mammography starting age 50 and every two years thereafter. Women with a family history of breast cancer must undergo the procedure starting age 35 and every year thereafter.

Silver Linings, a national homecoming for breast cancer survivors and a whole day educational and inspirational forum, will be staged September 6 at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, Cebu City. Aside from discussing such topics as “How families Cope with Cancer,” “Managing your Finances,” and “Creating Soulful Sounds,” Silver Linings also offer pampering sessions, including free massage, free medical consultation, free bone density and fasting blood sugar tests, and look good-feel good workshops.

First staged by the ICanServe Foundation in 2005, Silver Linings help erase the two things a cancer patient confronts: fear of the unknown and fear of being alone, by knowing more about the Big C, listening to inspiring stories of survivorship, and by strengthening the sisterhood.

For inquiries and pre-registration, please call (6332) 2439370 (Cebu) or (632) 6873942 (Manila), or write to silverlinings2008@gmail.com Nine warning signals of cancer

Change in bowel or urinary habits

A sore that does not heal

Unusual bleeding or discharge

Thickening or lump in the breast or elsewhere

Indigestion or difficulty in swallowing

Obvious change in wart or mole

Nagging cough or hoarseness

Unexplained anemia

Sudden unexplained weight loss (Inquirer News Service)