Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and tonight I rise to speak on the issue of breast cancer. It is an issue that is very close to me because my fraternal grandmother passed away from it, and it is an issue that is close to so many of us in the Australian community. One in nine Australian women will develop breast cancer over the course of their life, making breast cancer the most commonly diagnosed cancer amongst Australian women. That means that one way or another, whether we like it or not, breast cancer will touch almost every Australian. If an Australian woman herself is not diagnosed with breast cancer, her mother, sister, girlfriend, niece, aunt or daughter may well be. There will be someone known to each and every one of us.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths by cancer in Australian women. The sad reality is that more than 13,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year, and 2,800 women will die each year from this cancer. Nine out of ten women who develop breast cancer do not have a family history of the disease. Breast awareness amongst Australian women has progressed thanks to public health campaigns and thousands of dollars have been raised by the National Breast Cancer Foundation through Pink Ribbon Day related events. For all these groups and for related services we can be very grateful. Rates of death from breast cancer where access to medical treatment delays diagnosis or prevents treatment are far higher. It is testament to the work of the National Breast Cancer Foundation and other breast cancer groups around the nation that women are no longer afraid or embarrassed to publicly discuss the health of their breasts or check that family or friends are up to date with mammograms and screening. In Western Australia we also have Breast Cancer Care WA, founded by philanthropist Ros Worthington OAM, which provides support for women and for their families at the diagnosis and treatment stages, and long term after their period of medical treatment may have ended.

Last week, I had the great honour of hosting a Pink Ribbon morning tea in Rockingham, a suburb in my patron electorate of Brand, along with Donna Gordin, the Liberal Party's candidate for Brand at the 2010 Federal Election. I was delighted that the member for Mackellar, the Hon Bronwyn Bishop, was also able to join us. Mrs Bishop's daughter Angela is herself a member of the Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation and Pink Ribbon Ball committee in New South Wales. Over 100 people joined us for morning tea, with breast cancer survivor Valma Sulc sharing her journey with breast cancer publicly and very bravely for the first time. Breast cancer is now so common that it is easy to forget how personal each case and the story of breast cancer, and indeed of each individual case of any cancer, actually is. Valma reminded us of that as she described how her grandchildren helped her to maintain her humour and enthusiasm throughout her treatment. I am proud to say we were able to raise more than $1,200 for the Cancer Council, and I thank the owner of Andiamo Restaurant, Andrea De Luca, for the enormous support he and his staff provided on the day, with the wait staff even dressing in pink.

While cases of breast cancer are increasing, better research means women are more likely than ever to survive, with women whose cancer is restricted to the breast having a 90 per cent chance of survival. Early detection through breast screening and mammography is the main reason more women are surviving breast cancer. Trials like the LATER study, which commenced in 2007, are providing some hope that there may be a chance of preventing or delaying the recurrence of breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

However, the reality is that seven women still die every day from breast cancer in Australia and by 2015 it is expected that 42 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every day. Seventy-five per cent of cases occur in women over 50, although women in their 20s have also been diagnosed. More than 800 women under 40 years of age are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

Another cancer which has less of a profile in Australia, and which is unfortunately detected at a much later stage than breast cancer, is ovarian cancer. Approximately 800 women die from ovarian cancer in Australia each year. Three-quarters of these cases are at an advanced stage and have spread to other parts of the body by the time they are diagnosed, making them far more complicated to treat.

The most common signs of ovarian cancer, like abdominal or pelvic pain, a swollen or bloated stomach, the need to urinate often and a reduced appetite or difficulty eating, are shared with what are often common ailments and symptoms of less sinister complaints. Because of this, many women dismiss symptoms, associating them with weight gain, tiredness and feeling generally unwell or run down. Other symptoms women need to watch out for include unexplained weight gain or loss, inexplicable bleeding, back pain, indigestion or nausea, or excessive fatigue.

Like breast cancer, the cause of ovarian cancer is unknown, but on average three women will be diagnosed with the disease today and every day this year. Because the symptoms of the disease are so broad, Ovarian Cancer Australia advises women to be in touch with their bodies and know what feels normal to them, and when something does not feel right to make sure that it is investigated thoroughly. Ovarian cancer patients have been misdiagnosed in the past and sent for various treatments including physiotherapy for pulled groin muscles and painkillers for arthritis when there was a benign tumour the size of a five-month old foetus, and women have even been sent away from hospital being told there was nothing wrong with them.

Diagnosis for ovarian cancer can be made by physical examination, blood tests for a protein or tumour marker called CA125, which is higher in some women with ovarian cancer, or ultrasound or other types of imaging tests—but because there are four types of the cancer and because the symptoms are so broad, diagnosis can be difficult. However, there is hope for some women diagnosed with ovarian cancer after an Australian-led trial conducted at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney and several overseas hospitals found a drug that delays progression of the cancer in a patient with the most resistant type of the disease.

Although Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month is February, a group of women created an initiative in 2007 which runs each October, and last year, in its fourth year, it raised $112,000 for research into the disease. Frocktober began in Geelong when a group of friends passed a hat around at the pub, with the aim of starting to raise money for women's health. They chose to support ovarian cancer because of its lower profile in Australia. Frocktober is now a national event where women wear a dress each day in October and raise money through friends, families, workplaces and local communities. The organisers encourage women not to buy a new dress but to wear an old one and contribute the difference to the cause. In Parliament House we have Alessia Maruca, from Senator Boswell's office, undertaking the challenge, as well as journalist Katina Curtis.

It is part of Ovarian Cancer Australia's mission to ensure that all Australian women know the symptoms of ovarian cancer. I believe every Australian should know those symptoms. It is only through awareness and taking more seriously symptoms and changes in the way we feel, and the way our mothers, daughters, partners, sisters and friends feel, that diagnosis and prospects for survival can increase.

I urge everyone in this chamber and anyone who might be listening to this speech or might read a transcript of it to start having conversations about ovarian cancer and what the signs and symptoms are. Our lives are incredibly busy but nothing is more important than our health, and signs and signals that we might brush off may turn out to be more than just being a little bit tired or feeling a little bit unwell.