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Imam: OF Lam Oakvllls's Business School COMPUTER TRAINING “SurvivingEW LOTUS - and many more from this disease Sheila Thomps 338-6600 " 0V6 D weed inC( 0 'FOC US HEOAKVILIE] the Ministry of Health announced the funding of T BEAVER l By SHELLY SANDERS GREER Special to the Beaver Screening for women over 50 that F or Oakville resident Sheila Thompson, the importance of breast self-examinations cannot be ignored. A routine exam 20 years ago may have saved her life. She , found a lump which turned out to be cancerous and she ended up with a mastectomy. Since then, yearly checkups have given Thompson a clean bill of health. "I think you need a positive attitude to get through this," she says. "And I had a lot of family support." The scary Dart about Thnmnenn'c qitontior, “Inc You need a positive attitude says 20-year breast cancer survivor By SHELLY SANDE Special to the Beaver The scary part about Thompson's situation was t she was only in her mid-40s when her lump s discovered. The Canadian Cancer Society orts that the majority of cases (67%) will occur 'r age 55 in 1993. Thompson was in the smaller portion of women who develop breast cancer ore their 50s. SHELLY SANDERS GREER WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1993 PAGE 11 "And, because we're trying to make the most use of health care dollars, there is only mass screening after age 50, when a woman reaches menopause. It is believed pre-menopause breast cancer is very different...it's more aggressive, grows rapidly. and needs to be treated differently. That's why this program is not funded for women under 50." McPhail explains that after age 50, mammo- grams are 80% accurate, and they will pick up lumps three to four years before they could be felt by a breast self-examination. have been in the early stages. "About 90% of cancers occur after age 50," explains Teresa McPhail, health promotion officer for the Hamilton Centre. being a woman. The Cancer Society says that 75% to 80% of all breast cancers occur in women with no risk factors other than being a woman. There are other risk factors _ increasing age, previous breast cancer, and a strong family history of breast cancer - but all women are warned to be alert for breast cancer. Excluding skin cancer, breast cancer is the leading type of cancer in Canadian women. The Cancer Society estimates that 5,400 women will die from breast cancer in 1993. Currently, one in nine women can expect to develop breast cancer and one in 12 will die of the disease. The good news is that the survival rates for breast cancer are higher than for most other cancers. The relative five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 74% based on cases diagnosed between 1980 and 1984. Another frightening aspect of Thompson 's case was the fact that there was no previous incidence of breast cancer in her family. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. The largest risk factor is simply Ate (See 'Early detection in Hopedale Mall Jtur la on page 12) or page 12) JO Jah