Breast Cancer Awareness Walk, 2025.

The Breast Cancer Awareness Month is marked in countries across the world every October. This helps to increase attention and support for the awareness, early detection and treatment of this disease. Cancer of the breast has become the most frequent cancer site among the urban women in India and the number is increasing every day. One woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 4 minutes in India. One woman dies from breast cancer every 8 minutes in India. 1 in 28 women is likely to develop breast cancer in her lifetime, with this rate increasing to 1 in 22 in urban areas. More than 50% of Indian women are diagnosed at stages 3 and 4 of the disease. The survival rate for breast cancer patients in India is around 60%, significantly lower than the 80% seen in the US, partly due to late-stage diagnosis in India.

Hereditary factor plays an important role in the causation of breast cancer. Other than this, nulliparity, early age at menarche, late age at first pregnancy, obesity, cigarette smoking and alcohol are other known causative factors for this disease. The incidence of breast cancer is much higher in urban than in rural women. This urban / rural difference is mainly due to the difference in lifestyle. Western dietary influences and the changed lifestyles of urban population are the major causes of rising incidence of breast cancer in our state.

Pain is generally not a common presentation of breast cancer. Lumps are common; either in the breast or in the axilla; which may not be seen but can be felt. Breast cancer may occur without the presence of lumps. The results of treatment are substantially good, if breast cancer is detected at an early stage. Self breast examination is one of the most effective tools in early detection of breast cancer.

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Since, awareness is the best tool to fight this disease, Ruby Cancer Centre, a unit of Ruby General Hospital, in association with Ruby General Hospital and Ruby Cancer Care & Research Foundation, like the last many years, had organized a picturesque awareness rally from Ruby General Hospital, to generate awareness among the common people of Kolkata, West Bengal, about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. The cancer survivors, who are the Real Celebrities and Ambassadors for spreading the awareness about early detection and treatment of the disease were felicitated by the celebrities of other fields and eminent personalities present at the Cancer Awareness Walk. Many cancer survivors and their families, had participated in the walk along with nurses, hospital staff, students of Ruby Nursing School and College, eminent Oncologists like Dr. Partha Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Somnath Sorcer, Dr. Oindrila Biswas, doctors of other specialties like, Dr. Bhaswati Das, Dr. Tirtha Pratim Purkait, Dr. Rimita Dey and others were also present. Many well known personalities like actors Phalguni Chatterjee, Sudeshna Roy, Chandan Sen, Vicky Nandi, Arindam Ganguly, Anindya Banerjee, Saikat Mitra, Satrajit Sen, Sayantani Guhathakurta, Anilava Chatterjee sports personalities like Alvito D’Cunha, Mehtab Hossain and many others had also joined. Large number of people from all walks of life had also participated in generating awareness among the people.