Early breast cancer detection can spare patients chemotherapy

Early detection can allow gentler treatment and often make chemotherapy unnecessary, oncologist Marco Hassler told ORF. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Austria, where about 7,000 women develop it each year. Only 40 percent take part in screening offers, ORF reported.

October is dedicated worldwide to breast cancer screening. More than 44,000 people in Austria are diagnosed with cancer each year. Breast cancer cases have risen in recent years, a trend the report attributes to longer life expectancy and improved treatment options.

Hassler, an oncologist and medical director of the Sonnberghof, a medical facility in Bad Sauerbrunn, said cancer treatment has improved significantly over recent decades. One example is that people can continue working while living with cancer. The case of the finance minister, who can carry out his duties despite his illness, illustrates this progress, the report said.

Hassler added that a person’s health cannot always be judged by their appearance and said no one should feel pressured to do so.