Cancer patients with high risks are getting younger, says the Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Cancer Society, Su'a John Ryan as he made a call to strengthen awareness against the disease. 

In an interview with the Samoa Observer on Monday, the C.E.O. confirmed that while some children are born with cancer, the screening age for breast cancer which started at 40 has now dropped to the early 30s. He said a patient who succumbed to the disease three years ago was just 26 years of age.

"For all types of cancers, we've had infants and babies under 2 years old with cancer. They're born with cancer which is very sad and the range goes all the way through and I think the oldest we have is in the 80s, 82 to 83 years old," he said. "The youngest breast cancer patient we've had this year is 32 years old. 

"The screening age for breast cancer used to start at 40 and that was when you start to move into the higher risk age. But now we're actually starting to see an increase in the number of younger women presenting with lumps, and pain in their breasts which is an indicator towards breast cancer.

"So we'd like to encourage any young woman out there, the first defence against cancer is self-examination or being self-aware and our team is more than happy to work you through this.

"We come into workplaces and communities and do demonstrations, if it's hard to do breast self-examinations and that's just feeling for lumps in your breasts, any deformities, and changing colour or shape then go see a doctor."

Su'a added that cancer referrals to the S.C.S. are also on the rise year-on-year while acknowledging that there are a large number of cancer patients in the community. Despite their challenges in keeping track of the disease, he is of the view that they are doing their best, amid the lack of resources in the rural communities to record cancer-related deaths.

"We do know that there are a large number of cancer patients in the community and second, we do think that we are doing a better job at recording cancer and reaching out to the community.

"For a long time, people do get sick as we know here in Samoa in the rural areas, and they'll suffer through this terrible disease and unfortunately pass away without ever seeing a doctor or visiting a hospital. It just goes down as an unknown death and that's going back generations.

"But with the awareness campaigns that we've been able to run, it's raising this awareness that cancer is active in our communities so that when people do suspect that they might have something or something going wrong or might have cancer. 

"It has made a little bit easier for them to call the hospital or us or see a health professional and that's part of the reason why we're seeing large numbers. 

"But it doesn't discard the fact that we probably do have an increase in the number of cancer patients in Samoa anyway and cancer is caused by genetics so if you have someone with cancer in your family, there is a higher chance that you can get it."

But there is a way forward in the fight against cancer, according to the SCS chief executive, who pointed to personal habits such as smoking, vaping, alcohol and the consumption of sugary food as the root causes of cancer. 

"Don't smoke at all and there's no such thing as a casual smoker only when you go out. All kinds of smoking is bad for you and especially for young people which is very sad because we still see young people smoking," he said. "Smoking will one hundred per cent kill you and there's no soft way of saying it, so if you are smoking stop immediately and if you're thinking about it don't take it up and that includes vaping as well, we see vaping coming into our community. 

"Vaping is incredibly harmful to your health and because it's heavy on nicotine, it gets you addicted to nicotine and the outcome that we're starting to see overseas is terrible so control the people in Samoa, especially young people, don't smoke, don't vape. Reduce your consumption of alcohol at all if you can because alcohol is the cause of some general cases of cancer as well."

On Monday Su'a witnessed the official launching of PinkTober, which is marked every year in October to raise awareness about breast cancer. Samoa's Minister of Health, Valasi Tafito Selesele declared the event opened on Monday and acknowledged the work of the S.C.S. over the years in the fight against cancer. 

He said that while Samoa's goal to become a cancer-free nation may take a few years to achieve, the S.C.S. will continue to provide practical support that includes access to quality of life, mobility equipment, nutritional advice, emotional support and home visits for patients and families who are living with the disease.