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For BCAC, the care of our Māori and Pasifika women with breast cancer is of great concern because we are seeing some disturbing statistics.
Recent Ministry of Health reports show that Māori women are 21 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, 30 per cent less likely to be diagnosed early (1) and 72 per cent more likely to die from breast cancer than non-Māori (2). Other data suggests Māori women tend to get breast cancer at a younger age(3). Pasifika women also have higher rates of breast cancer than Pākehā/European women.
BCAC committee member, Dr Chris Walsh, received a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to women’s health in the New Year’s Honours 2010.
On this page you'll find out more about a condition known as lymphoedema, which can be a side-effect of breast cancer surgery.
Below you'll find information on:
Maori women have had the highest rates and the largest increase in breast cancer over the last two decades according to new research from the University of Otago, Wellington.
The difference between Maori rates, and that of European/Other women, increased from 7% in the period 1981-86, to 24% in 2001-2004; with Maori women's breast cancer rate increasing from 123 to 210 per 100,000 women.
However the research, led by Dr Ruth Cunningham from the Department of Public Health, says the reasons for the unusually higher Maori rates are still unclear, as
internationally breast cancer rates are usually highest among those with higher incomes.
My name is Jude and I am a 53 year old wife, mother to 3 boys, and registered nurse who works in the field of oncology.
Herceptin and HER2-positive breast cancer
Herceptin is a targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer.
HER2 stands for human epidermal growth factor 2, a protein located on the surfaces of cells involved in controlling cell proliferation. Breast cancer tumours that have higher-than-normal levels of HER2 are said to be ‘over-expressing’ this protein, and are referred to as HER2 positive. About 23% of breast cancers are HER2 positive.
Herceptin (generic name: trastuzumab) is a drug designed to lock onto and shut down the HER2 protein. Its molecular structure is based on an antibody that can precisely target the HER2 protein. Herceptin is a ‘biological drug’; it is manufactured using laboratory-cultured cells.
About 16% of the 3400 New Zealanders diagnosed with breast cancer each year will have HER2-positive breast cancer.
HER2 stands for 'human epidermal growth factor receptor-type 2'. It is a type of protein that sits on the surface of all normal cells and its job is to send messages to the cell, telling it to grow and replicate.
Hi. I’m Chris Walsh and I live at Waitarere Beach, a small village between Levin and Foxton. My partner Sue and I have a beautiful black Labrador called JJ and two cats that control activities in the house but still refuse to do housework. I work at Victoria University in Wellington and this year graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer to affect New Zealand women, with one in nine of us receiving this diagnosis at some point in our lives. Even so, the causes of this disease are not yet known.
On this page we list the known risks for breast cancer and give an indication of their relative importance. We also look at steps you can take that could lower your chances of getting breast cancer.
Risks
Factors that are known to increase your risk of getting breast cancer are, in order of magnitude:
• Being a woman - some men get breast cancer, but they represent less than 1% of all cases.
• Getting older - 50-year-old women are 10 x more likely to get breast cancer than 30-year-olds.
