But behind success lies a growing number of lung and bowel cancer cases
THE pink ribbon has become a symbol of the fight against the most common cancer affecting women.
Breast cancer accounts for almost 30 per cent of female cancers in S
cotland.
Other cancers specific to women, such as womb, ovarian and cervical, also appear to dominate awareness campaigns.
But they are by no means the only cancer affecting women.
Cases of lung cancer, while generally decreasing in the population, are growing in women. And the effects of poor diet are also adding to rising cases of bowel cancer.
But ask most women which cancer they most fear, and breast cancer is still likely to come top.
The number of cases diagnosed in Scotland has increased from 2,600 in 1984 to more than 3,900 in 2004.
But survival rates have also improved significantly, from a rate of 64 per cent five years after diagnosis in 1980-4, to 83.7 per cent in 2000-4.
The NHS screening programme and better treatments have helped boost those survival rates.
Barrie Collins, from Breast Cancer Care Scotland, paid tribute to the improvements in care which helped boost the chances of survival.
But she says more still needs to be done to improve rates even further.
"While we acknowledge that extra resources for breast cancer in Scotland have been provided through the Scottish Government's cancer strategy, there must be continued investment so that any increase in breast cancer incidence does not lead to a compromise in treatment," Ms Collins said.
Another common cancer in women is ovarian cancer, accounting for almost 5 per cent of cases with more than 600 diagnoses and 370 deaths in Scotland each year.
A similar number of cases of womb cancer are seen in Scotland – around 550 a year and 130 deaths.
But the success of the cervical cancer screening programme has seen cases of the disease in Scotland drop to just under 300 a year, with 120 deaths.
This is expected to drop further in the future with the introduction of the HPV vaccine for schoolgirls, preventing them developing the virus which causes cervical cancers.
Professor Ian Jacobs, from the gynaecological cancer charity the Eve Appeal, said: "We have made enormous progress in women's cancers in the UK in the organisation of care, in improving access to and quality of care for the majority of women and in screening and prevention for cancers like cervix and breast.
"There is still a long way to go in translating the extraordinary advances in understanding cancer into effective treatments and there are major opportunities for prevention and screening."
But while much of the focus has been on these cancers, they are not in fact the biggest killers for women.
Around 1,900 die from lung cancer each year, compared with 1,100 with breast cancer.
And while cases of lung cancer in men in Scotland have fallen from more than 3,300 in 1984 to 2,500 in 2004, an opposite trend has been seen in women, with cases up from 1,400 in 1985 to more than 2,100 in 2004.
Mike Unger, chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said the success of the breast cancer lobby had made it harder for other charities to make a big impact.
"The big supermarkets are happy to take on breast cancer as a campaign they support because it does not affect anything they sell," he said.
"But they can't take on lung cancer because they sell cigarettes."
Mr Unger said a particular concern was rising levels of smoking in young women, which needed to be addressed.
He said they thought smoking was "cool" and kept them slim.
"We have even heard of young women smoking during early pregnancy to try to have smaller babies to make the birth easier.
"That is just appalling."
'I try my best to be positive – it's the only way to be'
WHEN Kathleen Fullerton started being sick one night, she assumed she had a virus.
But within only a few days, she was in hospital receiving an urgent transfusion of six pints of blood.
"I was told by the doctor that I had pancreatic cancer," Mrs Fullerton said.
"It was a complete shock, to be honest. I wasn't thinking it could be anything like cancer.
"I had surgery and was in theatre for eight hours.
"They took out the tumour and sent it away for testing and found out there was another tumour there as well, but that was benign."
The surgery went well and Mrs Fullerton, 59, from Livingston, West Lothian, returned to work.
But later she started suffering pain in her hip, which worsened until she could hardly walk.
Further scans revealed cancer spots in her liver, and she was told she would need radiotherapy and chemotherapy. "When they said about the chemotherapy, I was a nervous wreck to begin with," she said.
"I was really worried about it, very apprehensive. I wasn't sleeping. But I came in here (to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh] and everybody is so nice.
"It is a bit depressing to begin with, but at the same time they are just trying to help you.
"Even if you did have the worst of the side-effects, they wouldn't do the treatment if they didn't think it was going to help. I try to be positive. It's the only way to be."
Mrs Fullerton has now started on a further course of chemotherapy and she remains positive that she will beat the disease.
"There are some days when I'm not positive and I try to get out of that," she said.
"To me, there's no point making my life any more miserable, and everyone else's life miserable, because of what's wrong.
"If I'm feeling OK I just like to get on with it."
Teacher back at work six months after diagnosis
SANDRA Ramshall says being back at work after battling cancer is simply amazing.
She was diagnosed with endometrial cancer – cancer of the womb lining – in August last year. But less than six months later, and after a gruelling course of treatment, she is back at work as a chemistry teacher.
"It has just been wonderful to get back," she said. "All the children were so excited. I never thought I would be missed as much as I was."
Mrs Ramshall, 48, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, suffered heavy bleeding for a year and a half before being diagnosed.
Doctors initially did not think it could be cancer because of her age and symptoms. But a biopsy revealed the truth.
The mother of four had a radical hysterectomy followed by radiotherapy, including an invasive session of internal radiation to destroy any remaining cancer cells.
"I had to lie still for 24 hours with this probe inside me. It was so uncomfortable. When I came out, I was traumatised. It was just awful," she said.
After finishing her treatment at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, Mrs Ramshall is hopeful of beating the disease.
"The doctors have said that, from their point of view, I am cured, though they can't really say that until at least five years.
"But the survival rate for the early type of cancer I had is 85 to 90 per cent at five years. So there is a 10 per cent chance it could come back, but you can't live your life like that.
"Anyone can get cancer. It is a horrible thing, but now I just want to get on with my life."
Life saved thanks to screening
FOR Helen Dryburgh, the NHS breast screening programme proved to be a life-saver.
When the 57-year-old went for a mammogram in 2004, it revealed a lump which, on further examination, turned out to be cancer.
She is now being treated with Herceptin, a drug hailed for its high success rates in tackling one particular form of breast cancer.
Mrs Dryburgh, from Dunfermline, said: "I had a mammogram and that's what showed it up.
"I'm very glad I went."
The former nurse had a mastectomy and eight doses of chemotherapy which ended in November 2004.
She was given the all-clear until 2006, when doctors found the disease had spread to her liver. "I had a lot of pain and discomfort and I was admitted to the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline," she said.
Mrs Dryburgh started another course of chemotherapy, which initially worked. But when she started suffering pain again, she started on her third lot of treatment. Another setback at Christmas saw her needing a further course of radiotherapy at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.
But Mrs Dryburgh said patients had to stay positive during treatment.
"I think it's important to keep a positive attitude when faced with cancer," she said.
"Everyone is different, obviously, but I would say people should get as much information as they can deal with at the time and keep thinking positively."
