Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1)

notes that:

(a)

Pink Ribbon day is 25 October;

(b)

breast cancer is the most common cancer in Australian women, accounting for 28 per cent of cancer diagnoses in 2006;

(c)

this year alone, 12 000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which is expected to increase by 22 per cent by 2015;

(d)

one in nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by age 85;

(e)

breast cancer is the most common cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women;

(f)

the risk of developing breast cancer increases with age, with the average age of diagnosis recorded as 60 in 2006;

(g)

mammograms are vital to early detection, with 75 per cent of deaths occurring in women who have never been screened; and

(h)

there has been a 27 per cent decrease in mortality rates due to breast cancer since 1994; and

(2)

acknowledges the:

(a)

work of the National Breast Cancer Foundation;

(b)

effectiveness of Pink Ribbon Day in raising awareness;

(c)

work of the Jane McGrath Foundation;

(d)

contribution of volunteers, staff and researchers; and

(e)

importance of early detection.

Today is breast cancer awareness day or Pink Ribbon Day, and it is important that all Australian women are aware of the implications of this disease, the facts and figures surrounding it, diagnosis, prevention and the latest treatments available to women.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Australian women, accounting for 28 per cent of cancers diagnosed in 2006. This year alone, 12,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which is expected to increase by 22 per cent by 2015. One in nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85. The risk of developing breast cancer increases with age, with the average age of diagnosis recorded as 60 in 2006. Mammograms are vital to early detection, with 75 per cent of deaths occurring in women who have never been screened. There has been a 27 per cent decrease in mortality rates due to breast cancer since 1994.

Breast cancer affects many people’s lives. Every person knows someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. In fact, there are members of this parliament, past and present, who have been treated for breast cancer. The effects of breast cancer are not limited to the person diagnosed with the disease; it affects their social life, their working life and their family life. It places a financial and emotional strain on the person and their family.

What is breast cancer? Breast cancer is: one or more lumps or a thickening of your breast; nipple alterations, and that can be in shape, redness, crusting, ulcers, sores or an inversion; discharge from the nipple; skin puckering, dimpling, unusual redness or colour change; a change in the size of your breast; or unusual pain that does not go away. These are some but not all of the symptoms of breast cancer.

There are risk factors associated with it. Some people have greater risk factors than others. Some risk factors are: if you have a strong family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer—and there is a link between the two cancers; if you have had a breast biopsy or a benign tumour diagnosed; breast tissue may be dense or fatty; if you use hormone replacement therapy; if you consume excessive amounts of alcohol; if you are overweight and physically inactive; or if you belong to a high-risk ethnic group. But these are not the only factors.

There are a number of things that women can do to prevent breast cancer. The most important of these is to have a mammogram every two years. Women between the age of 40 and 69 receive reminders to attend for a mammogram, whilst women 70 years and over do not. This does not mean that when a woman reaches the age of 70 she will not get breast cancer. It is equally important for these women to have regular mammograms. So, if you are over 70, put it in your diary or note it on your calendar but ensure you continue to have breast screenings.

The facts I mentioned earlier show that the risk factors associated with breast cancer increase as you age. Fifty years ago, a woman diagnosed with breast cancer had little chance of survival. Since then, treatment and detection has improved. Originally the only treatment was a radical mastectomy. Whilst this treatment is still an option, many women need only a lumpectomy. The removal of the cancer is usually followed by chemotherapy, radiotherapy or, in some cases, both treatments. Recently, clinicians have started treating patients with chemotherapy prior to the removal of the cancer. This treatment enables the surgeon to determine the chemotherapy drug that will react with that particular cancer. If the cancer shrinks then that indicates that that is the appropriate drug. Drugs such as Herceptin and Tamoxifen are also used in the treatment of breast cancer.

It is research that is delivering these new treatments. At a breast cancer morning tea I hosted last Friday, Professor John Forbes, a world-renowned oncologist who received an award from the Clinical Oncological Society for his outstanding contribution to cancer care in the Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group research—he is at a conference in New York today—stated that it could be possible to eliminate breast cancer by 2039.

Today the National Breast Cancer Foundation launched a new website, Register4, where volunteers can register for research. The address of the website is www.register4.org.au. Register4 is Australia’s first online community for volunteer breast cancer research participants. By joining the register volunteers will help researchers find better treatments and a cure for breast cancer. By volunteering as a research participant there are many different ways you will help the Register4 breast cancer research community. It is not about raising money; it is about you participating in research. Breast cancer is still the most common cancer affecting Australian women and its incidence is rising. Every person who joins the register takes research one step closer to finding a cure for breast cancer and fulfilling Professor Forbes’s prediction for 2039. People over the age of 18 years age from all walks of life are encouraged to join the register.

Prior to coming in here to make this speech I signed up with Register4, and I encourage all members of this House to do the same. Research is about finding a cure and preventing breast cancer, and that is why it is important for Australians, particularly women, to sign up to Register4. There have been a number of prevention trials. Prevention trials test new approaches such as medicines and vitamins, minerals or other supplements. Prevention trials look at lifestyle changes that may lower the risk factors for getting cancer and look for the best way to prevent cancer in people who have never had it or to prevent second, new cancers in people cured of their first cancer.

Screening trials test the best way to find cancer, especially in its earliest stages. Examples include mammograms. Clinical trials are important. They are the best way to improve the treatment and care of people who have cancer. Clinical trials give us essential information about the effects of different treatments. They are how we discover if new treatments are more effective or have fewer side effects.

The results of clinical trials today will improve treatment for people who develop cancer in the future. A new treatment can only become standard treatment if it is proven to be safe and effective in clinical trials. Many of the most effective treatments used today are the result of clinical trials done in the past 30 years. Clinical trials identify risks and side effects, which must be weighed up against the possible benefits of the new treatment.

Today is a very important day because it does raise awareness of breast cancer, its treatments and the ways in which we can work to prevent it. I would like to encourage members of this House and those people listening to the debate today to hold their own morning tea within their local community to raise awareness of breast cancer amongst people they associate with. As I mentioned, Professor Forbes was the keynote speaker at the morning tea that I held last Friday. Also in attendance was nurse counsellor Jenny Beldham, from the Hunter breast-screening unit, and Sharon Ferris, a breast cancer survivor. I have known Sharon for a long time. She underwent treatment earlier this year. Sharon is extremely fit and active, which shows that no matter what lifestyle you lead you can develop breast cancer. Breast cancer is a disease that we can work to prevent in our community, and there are some very important treatments available.

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