Breast cancer (BC) will kill 76,000 women in India in 2015. For every two women with BC, one will die. Many of these deaths are preventable: simply by early detection. But detection often is late and thus fatal. Lack of awareness is the major reason for late detection.

BC in India is rising at a rapid rate. By 2030, the number of BC cases will rise to about 200,000 a year and deaths to about 100,000 a year. India has the worst survival rate from BC, and the highest number of women dying from BC, in the world.

Cancer can neither be prevented nor cured. But the risk of cancer can be reduced by a few simple life style changes: no red meat, no smoking, less alcohol; a diet rich in whole grain, vegetables, fruits and legumes and low in fat (butter/oil); vitamins and Marine Omega 3 fatty acids (found in seafood (e.g. fish oils) and in walnut, seeds, flaxseed oil etc.)

Aim of cancer treatment is to extend the life so that the patient does not die before old age; and to improve the quality of life during the survival years by palliative care.

Cancer is a 3200 year old disease. It is endogenous, a part of life-process. So it can neither be eradicated, nor prevented, nor cured.
Will some radical discovery in the future make cancer prevention and cure possible? We don’t know. But we can always hope.
Because as Richard Clauser, Director, NCI, USA, says about the future of cancer cure, “There are far more good historians than there are prophets.”

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