9 out of 10 breast cancer patients are over 40… “Early discovery is important”

9 out of 10 patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer were found to be in their 40s or older. As the incidence rate is relatively high among middle-aged women, it seems necessary to take health care and checkups in the middle-aged period.

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service said on the 23rd that a survey of 8078 patients who had undergone surgery for breast cancer in 2015 revealed that 7364 patients were over 40, accounting for 91.1%.

Breast cancer generally refers to a malignant tumor caused by mutations in the cells that make up the ducts and lobules of the breast. The cause of the onset is not clearly identified, but female hormones, age, birth experience, alcohol consumption, and a family history of breast cancer are known as risk factors.

In particular, the proportion of breast cancer surgery in their 40s increased by nearly four times compared to those in their 30s. The number of breast cancer surgery patients aged 18 to 29 was 46 (0.6%), and 668 (8.2%) between 30 and 39 years old, but the number of patients in their 40s increased to 2765 (34.2%).

After that, it gradually decreased to 2510 people aged 50 to 59 (31%), 1325 people aged 60 to 69 (16.4%), and 640 people aged 70 to 79 (8%).

In terms of breast cancer surgery, surgery to preserve part of the breast (65.9%) was about twice as many as surgery to remove the entire breast (34.1%).

In recent years, considering the improvement of the quality of life and the cosmetic aspect, it seems that breast preservation techniques that can maintain the shape of the breast are preferred.

The number of patients detected by stage of breast cancer was 3649 (45.2%) in the first stage. Next, the second stage was 3254 (40.3%) and the third stage was 1175 (14.5%).

The early detection rate of cancer was high, which is more likely to detect breast masses (palpable masses) early through self-examination (promotion) compared to other cancers, and it is interpreted that it was influenced by the implementation of the national cancer screening policy.

An official from Shim Pyeong-won said, “Breast cancer is very important in that it is accompanied by secondary psychological pain of a woman due to breast loss and shape change in addition to the pain caused by disease.”

On the other hand, in 2015, Shimpyeongwon conducted a ‘4th adequacy assessment for breast cancer’ for 109 medical institutions with more than 10 breast cancer surgeries per year and performing 5 or more adjuvant treatments in 2015. (77.1%) was rated as 1st grade.

There were 12 (11.0%) institutions that received the 2nd grade, 8 (7.3%) for the 3rd grade, and 3 (2.8%) for the 4th grade. Two medical institutions (1.8%), including Eunpyeong Yonsei Hospital in Seoul and Hansarang Hospital, Gyeonggi Seojeon Medical Foundation.

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