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Cancer conquerors take to the dance floor with bellies out

Breast cancer survivors perform a belly dance to show their confidence and beauty yesterday. The event was held by the Taiwan Breast Cancer Alliance to encourage women not to fear that a mastectomy would ruin their appearance. PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES

The Taiwan Breast Cancer Alliance released a survey of breast cancer survivors at a press conference yesterday that also featured a belly dancing performance and swimsuit show by those who have overcome the disease.

The survey queried 1,332 breast cancer survivors who were members of breast cancer support groups from across the nation.

As the beat of Middle Eastern music filled the conference room, three women in low-cut belly dancing outfits shook their hips to the music. All three had undergone mastectomies followed by reconstructive surgery.

They were followed by a parade of former breast cancer patients in colorful swimsuits.

As a result of the mastectomies they had after being diagnosed with breast cancer, 62.7 percent of the women surveyed reported feeling at least slightly uncomfortable when taking off their clothes, while 48.2 percent reported a decreased interest in sex.

"Don't be afraid," said Chen Wen-chuan (陳文娟), who discovered her cancer as a 31-year-old mother of three.

Upon discovering the small lump on her breast, Chen immediately had a mastectomy.

"My prognosis was excellent because I discovered the cancer so early, and reconstructive surgery has helped me recover my confidence" said Chen, who was one of the belly dancers at the event.

According to Alliance secretary-general Lin Wei-jie (林葳婕), Taiwanese women are still are not detecting breast cancer early enough.

"The five-year survival rate for first-stage breast cancer is in excess of 85 percent" said Lin, who discovered her stage-two breast cancer at the age of 42.

"That falls to 65 and 15 percent for second and third-stage patients, respectively."

Lin also highlighted another disturbing trend -- more younger Taiwanese women are being diagnosed with breast cancer, with 44.3 percent of those surveyed discovering the disease in their 40s and 15 percent stricken while only in their 30s.

"Taiwanese breast cancer patients are about 10 years younger on average than those in Europe or the US and more work needs to be done to investigate why this is so," Lin said.

Nevertheless, Lin said that the news was not all bad because of the growth of patients' groups.
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