World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 627,000 women died from breast cancer in 2018, which is roughly 15 per cent of all cancer deaths among women. While breast cancer rates are higher among women in more developed regions, rates are cumulative in nearly every region worldwide.

Breast cancer is the most recurrent cancer among women, impacting 2.1 million women each year, and also causes the utmost number of cancer-related deaths among women. In order to improve breast cancer outcomes and survival, early detection is critical.

According to WHO, there are two early detection strategies for breast cancer, early diagnosis and screening. Inadequate resource settings with weak health systems where the majority of women are diagnosed in late stages should prioritise early diagnosis programmes based on awareness of early signs and symptoms and prompt referral to diagnosis and treatment.

WHO’s early diagnosis approach emphasises providing timely access to cancer treatment by reducing barriers to care or improving access to effective diagnosis services. The objective is to increase the proportion of breast cancers identified at an early stage, allowing for more effective treatment to be used, and reducing the risks of death from breast cancer.

Breast cancer is sometimes found after symptoms appear, but many women with breast cancer have no symptoms, which is why regular breast cancer screening is mandatory.

WHO states that screening consists of testing women to identify cancers before any symptoms appear. Various methods have been evaluated as breast cancer screening tools, including mammography (it is used to detect and diagnose breast cancer), clinical breast exam, and breast self-exam.

Doctors suggest regular clinical exams and monthly breast self-examinations; mammograms are a key element in the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Some experts recommend that women who are 40 and older should have a mammography every one to two years and regular screening beginning at age of 45. For those with a personal or family history of breast cancer, doctors may propose that you start screenings earlier—have them more often, or use extra diagnostic tools.

Dr Iba Mayele, an obstetrician-gynaecologist at Clinic Galien, Kimironko, notes that breast screening helps to identify breast cancer early; the earlier the condition is found, the better the chances of surviving the condition.

He says that a heathy diet can help lower the risk of breast cancer and advises eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and keeping alcohol at moderate level or lower. Although moderate drinking can be good for the heart in older adults, even low levels of intake can increase the danger of developing breast cancer.

"Some of the food that may lower the risk of developing breast cancer is fatty fish, including salmon and sardines; eating more fatty fish and less refined oils and processed foods may help reduce breast cancer risk,” Mayele says.

He adds that more food to consider eating to lower your risk of breast cancer should be; beans, fermented foods, healthy herbs and spices, and fruits like berries, peaches, apples, pears, and citrus.

Mayele warns against consuming refined carbs, added sugar, alcohol, fried foods, processed meats, and fast food as they can increase breast cancer risk.

He urges having optimal sleep, exercising, and maintaining healthy body weight, desisting from smoking to lessen the breast cancer risk.

BreastCancer.Org reports that finding breast cancer early with mammography also means that many more women being treated for breast cancer are able to keep their breasts. When caught early, localised cancers can be removed without resorting to breast removal (mastectomy).

"Women also need to practice self-examination, get regular breast examinations by an experienced healthcare professional, and, in some cases, also get another form of breast imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound,” states BreastCancer.Org.

Mayele says that in case a loved one recovers from breast cancer, caretakers or friends should respect their trauma and grief, understand survivors’ fear of recurrence of cancer, ask what their needs are so that you don’t do them a service that may instead burden them, and most importantly, realise that their viewpoints and priorities will change since they have experienced illnesses. They require patience.