Prevention and early detection of breast cancer: how to act in a community pharmacy

He breast cancer It is the most diagnosed tumor in women and the leading cause of cancer death. In fact, as you remember, 99% of breast cancer cases affect women and only 1% affect men. Maite ClementCoordinator of the SEFAC Working Group on Women’s Health, in a statement to EG. Therefore, its prevention and early detection are important, and in this sense the pharmacist has something to say.

Community pharmacy must “reinforce the commitment and importance of raising awareness of breast cancer prevention and early detection” as “health promotion must be a core pillar” of the profession. Thus, the approach to this type of cancer must include “the many aspects that go together in this disease, such as prevention (primary, secondary and tertiary), disease monitoring with very close clinical communication with the patient, follow-up effectiveness and safety of treatment pharmacological, as well as resolution of all doubts and questions which are being considered in this new phase for women,” explains Clement. Additionally, awareness efforts include publicizing the disease and raising public awareness through specific campaigns and messages.

Avoid risk factors

” primary prevention from a community pharmacy this is very important,” says the SEFAC expert. To this we must add health education in a healthy lifestyle. And the fact is that “40% of cancer cases could be avoided because they are associated with an unhealthy lifestyle; A healthy and balanced diet can help prevent them,” he notes.

Therefore, at the level of primary prevention, fundamental work is “avoid risk factors and help women get proper breast exams.” “Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, attending all screening programs organized by health authorities and conducting self-examinations to detect unusual changes is a challenge prevention fundamental for patients,” insists Clement.

On the other side, health education when teaching breast self-examination This task “can and should be performed in a community pharmacy.” However, to take on this role, a professional “must undergo training, collaborate with other health care professionals, and be visible to the public with their professional skills and competencies.”

In this context, Clement recalls that Breast self-examination should be performed monthly, every other week, starting at age 25. “If she’s a menopausal woman, the day doesn’t matter, but it should be once a month on a day that’s easy to remember, like the first or last,” he advises. “The technique is simple: with your arms extended, you should observe that the breasts have the usual shape and size, the skin is smooth without wrinkles, and the lower edge is smooth and regular. Raising your arms, you should check whether there is any difference between one breast and the other and between one armpit and the other. Finally, you need to examine the nipple and areola to see if they are retracted or have scabs or wounds,” he explains.

Encourage viewing participation

While prevention is important at any stage of life, Clement admits that “the older we get, the more likely we are to get cancer.” “There are stages of life when women experience significant hormonal changes (usually between 40 and 60 years of age) where there is a higher incidence of this pathology,” he notes. Therefore, for early diagnosis from the age of 50, the pharmacy must “cooperate in screening programsinstructing perimenopausal women about preventive programs of health authorities, such as mammography every two years, depending on age and autonomous community.”

“Pharmacy should collaborate in screening programs by educating perimenopausal women about prevention programs.”

As Clement notes, screening represents a “window of opportunity”. Therefore, on the part of the pharmacy, which plays a large role in promoting the importance of prevention, we must insist on the need to attend all screenings of the population established by health policy.

In this context, Clement argues that “Mammography is much more effective after menopause.because breasts are less fibrous and look better and better, in addition to the fact that menopausal women are much more likely to get breast cancer.” “This is done between the ages of 50 and 65 or 70, it depends on the community, and is repeated between 18 and 24 months,” he explains. However, Clement believes that mammography before the age of 50 “should be individualized.”because the balance of benefit and risk varies depending on the underlying risk.”

The expert emphasizes the importance of this mammography screening because “it will detect microcalcifications, that is, the precipitation of calcium salts due to the death of the central abnormal epithelial cells growing inside the duct; since the food does not reach them all by diffusion, some become dehydrated and precipitate.” The sensitivity of mammography is 70-80%, and overall mammography can reduce the risk of death from breast cancer by more than 30%.

Importance of Pharmaceutical Advice

The information pharmacists provide to patients is critical to managing disease. Therefore, professionals “must have knowledge and skills needed to improve patient careoffer effective and personalized pharmaceutical care by understanding their needs and disease characteristics.” Thus, for Clement it is important “that community pharmacists are ongoing training in scientific and therapeutic advancesincluding new treatment options and management recommendations.”

“Community pharmacists must continually educate themselves on scientific and therapeutic advances.”

One of the fundamental principles for optimizing patient care in pharmacies is ensure proper medication intakeand build confidence in and adherence to treatment.

This requires knowledge of pharmacologic treatments, including hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy, to “ensure proper dosing, monitoring, and patient education on the safe and effective use of medications.” And in this sense, a professional must “know the side effects chemotherapy, radiation therapy and other drugs to be able to effectively manage adverse reactions.” “This is important carry out correct pharmacotherapeutic monitoringactively involve people in treatment,” concludes Clement.