BENGALURU: Seventy-eight-year-old grandma Rathna is diagnosed with breast cancer. She has not been informed about it. But her daughter Leela and granddaughter Smitha (names changed), both cancer survivors, are rallying round to help her. It has been a year-long battle for the grandma now. The support of the daughter and granddaughter has kept her positive and strong-willed to fight the cancer. Three consecutive generations suffering from cancer is less common, according to Dr Neelesh Reddy, consultant medical oncologist, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital.
Leela (51), a mother of three and a resident of Hebbal, came to Columbia Asia Referral Hospital in Yeshwantpur, with a lump in her breast in January 2010. She was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. After a surgical removal of the affected breast followed by radiotherapy for five months, Leela was cured.
But in July 2012, her 24-year-old daughter Smitha, a software engineer, was diagnosed with third stage ovarian cancer. One of her ovaries and fallopian tubes were removed. Chemotherapy was recommended, all of which took six months. Now, 30, she is leading a normal life. Chemotherapy was difficult as she developed several side effects like vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, and hair loss.
Leela helped her daughter get through what she had already seen. Five years later in August 2015, her own mother was diagnosed with fourth stage breast cancer. She was too frail. Doctors suggested systemic therapy that included hormone therapy. Both Leela and Smitha are keeping her attitude positive to fight the disease.
Dr Neelesh Reddy said, “The women are strong, they have taken it well in their stride. Initially, there was a phase of denial and then they coped well.”
“Counselling services were mainly taken by the daughter and to some extent the mother. The family hasn’t revealed the complete information of her condition to the grandmother. With hormone treatment she is doing fine. Most of her treatment is through tablets and occasional injections,” he said.
“In a 24-year-old, there will be lot of apprehensions about marriage and children. The chances of disease recurrence will be more, so counselling and support groups were required for her,” the doctor said. When the daughter was undergoing treatment, the mother’s treatment had gotten over.
“It is not a case of classical ovarian cancer in the daughter but a germ cell tumour. This proves that it is not genetic. It is just family clustering. The disease happens to occur in individuals who were related,” he said.
Women should undergo regular health checkups
Unlike men, cancers in women can be diagnosed quite early. Regular health checkups, pap smear, self-examination of the breast, mammogram, following a healthy lifestyle are key to treatment. Now it has been proven that being overweight, consuming alcohol or smoking increases risks of cancer, more in women than in men.