By Christian Njoku
Asi Ukpo Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Calabar on Sunday said that it was carrying out a robust study on the increase of breast cancer among young girls in Cross River.
This was disclosed by Dr Gbenga Kajogbola, Chief Medical Director, (CMD) of the centre, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN), during sensitisation and free cancer screening at the University of Calabar Chapel of Redemption (UCOR).
The CMD of one of the foremost cancer centres in Cross River said that data-wise, the state was no different from other parts of the world.
However, he said quite surprisingly, they were discovering an increased rate of early breast cancer among young girls which was hardly found anywhere else.
“There is a group of cancers that we see that is quite surprising that is the early onset of breast cancer among young girls which you won’t find anywhere else.
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“We are trying to do more robust study on this so that we can make our own pronouncement and contribution to the National Cancer Society.
“We are already looking at it because most of the young girls start taking oral contraceptives at a young age; so, we are looking at the population, why it is happening and the spread before we make a definitive pronouncement,” he said.
He maintained that as a centre they decided to carry out the cancer sensitisation during a Sunday service because they discovered that there was high-level ignorance in the public and many people shy away from a cancer diagnosis.
The CMD who said they were carrying out testing for Prostrate Specific Antigen (PSA) for men noted that every man above 40 should do the same and also screen for colonic cancer while sexually active women should screen for cancer of the cervix.
He said when the disease was detected early, it made it easy for a patient to be cured but when it was not discovered early and it spreads, it made things difficult for the medical practitioner and expensive for the patient.
According to Kajogbola, some patients get it right from the beginning by detecting the problem early but end up in prayer houses while others rejected the result noting that it was not their portion.
“As we grow older, people get more prone to cancer but unlike before, when we used to look at cancer as something very distant due to lack of prompt diagnosis, today things have changed.
“Now we are able to tell that at a particular age you can go and check for a particular kind of cancer, to be on the safer side,” he said.
He appealed to Nigerians to modify their lifestyles by eating less oily and sugary foods and also to reducing excessive intake of alcohol as preventive measures against cancer.
While appealing to the government at all levels to pay more attention to cancer care, he charged Nigerians to be more aware of their health and visit professionals, not herbalists or centres where they could not access care. (NAN)
