Early Detection and Medical Advances aid in Treating Cancer

It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month; in addition to early detection, medical advances are being made in the fight against cancer.

Dr. Arnold Smith from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NARMC) joined KHOZ’s Around The Table on Tuesday to discuss Breast Cancer Awareness, early diagnosis and advances in treatment. Smith said one out of eight women will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime and that “early diagnosis has really changed the entire picture of this disease.” He added that the cure rates are “really wonderful” when it is detected early.

Smith is a radiation oncologist. He helps to treat cancer once it is found. Smith said that in the past ten years they have discovered “that we can speed up the after-surgery care.” In the past, radiation treatment took six and a half weeks, but Smith said now the treatment can be done in only four weeks with “less redness, less side effects.” The treatment is about 20 minutes and Smith said patients can often go back to work the same day of treatment. Smith said that it is “a blessing to have the technology there to help make it easier as well as keep their cure rates just excellent.”

“We do see about maybe one out of 100 breast cancer diagnosis are in men,” Smith said. While the cancer presents itself in a similar way as breast cancer in women, Smith said men do not have the benefit of mammograms. “It will be a swelling or a lump that doesn’t go away that is gradually increasing in size.” Sometimes men can have nipple discharge as a symptom of breast cancer. Smith said yearly exams by a physician “are key to bring those [breast cancer concerns in men] up.”

Smith said his grandmother was a breast cancer survivor. He said in his field they are guiding “towards a curative” path and not just controlling symptoms. The full interview with Smith is on Around The Table’s Facebook Page. The interview begins at the 24:42 mark.