Nowadays cancers pose a major public health problem in the world. World wide speaking cancer ranks second as a cause of death, just after cardiovascular diseases. And as cancers of the reproductive system are very high in numbers as most common cancer sites - SCORA members think it shouldn't be neglected.

We define tumour as new abnormal growth of tissue. Normally after puberty our body stops growing, but tissue cells continue dividing in order to replace those cells that die of injury or old age. Sometimes an abnormal cell with capacity to divide out of control may arise. This cluster of abnormal cells then forms a tumour. A tumour is simply a swelling and does not necessarily imply cancer. If a tumour does not grow or only grows in its local area, it is called benign tumour. However, if it has the capability to spread to other areas of the body, then it is called malignant tumour and can be called cancer. Malignant tumours show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign tumour. Tumours can develop in each part of human body, from every type of tissue.

When speaking of reproductive system - each part can develop or be affected by a tumour. Most common cancer sites in males are prostate and testis, and in females breast, corpus and cervix uteri and ovaries. Looking at the statistics comparing most common cancer sites in the body to reproductive system cancer sites, it is evident that prostate cancer is second cancer site overall (11%) in males and in females first place overall is breasts (23%), uterine body (6%), followed by uterine cervix (4%).

SCORA members found, that it is our duty as future professionals to raise awareness on these issues and teach those around us how to recognize symptoms and how to examine oneself. This is for instance done through awareness raising campaigns, exhibitions and lectures.

Youth and Cancers of the Reproductive System

Having SCORA members working mainly with youth and young adults in several prevention projects we see that we should not neglect the importance of addressing this topic to our audience.

Testicular cancer affects primarily young adults and older teenagers. Annually 50 000 men in the world is living with testicular cancer, which will cause 9 000 deaths. Cervical cancer is directly connected with exposure to HPV, primarily during unprotected sex at an early age. Recurrent infections in males by any type of STD, most frequently at young adulthood, poses a high risk of developing prostate cancer in that individual when over 65. Smoking while being on the contraceptive pill is proven to be connected with high risk of developing breast cancer. Young women are often burdened with false perceptions that their appearance is not appealing, and often wear brassiere for over 12h per day, especially those which shape the breast, and this is proven to be connected with breast cancer. So we can conclude that our behaviour when young can and will influence our health at an older age - no matter what kind of treatment is available, there is no 100% reassurance that you will be healed and this can influence our ability to have children. That is why prevention threw education and early detection are of most significance.

Cancers and Healthcare

We would like to emphasize that treatment of a cancer gives best results if detected at an early stage of development. That is why regular check-ups and self-examination are of great importance. We do not want to talk too much of the necessity to provide clinicians with equipment and knowledge to detect tumours as well as a variety of treatment possibilities - that is problem based on economy state of healthcare systems all around the world. But we would like to focus more on prevention and the fact that people do not take care of their health, especially reproductive health. No matter the culture sex and reproductive health is considered a private matter and reproductive organs - private parts. For us to make a difference we need to promote self-examinations, advocate for palliative care for terminal patients and most importantly prevent high risk behaviour in youth threw education. For most of the SCORA members this is not an easy job considering cultural background and financial difficulties - but it is a job that is vital for the healthy future of our countrymen and countrywomen. Making advocacy campaign is the first step towards our goals - prevention through education and early detection.