Costa del Sol News: Malaga cancer association urges people to adopt healthy lifestyles

EVERY year about 9000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the province of Malaga. Around 1800 of these could be avoided simply by adopting healthy lifestyle habits and attending early detection programmes, such as those for breast and colon checks.

The Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) has focused its efforts on the idea that the key is to prevent pathology.

“Cancer is no longer synonymous with death. It is a disease that is cured; with research and prevention we can overcome it,” said the president of the AECC in Malaga, Francisco Aguilar.

The other arear in which the association has greatly impacted is early detection. There are already programmes such as screening against breast and colon cancer. The mammograms are more established as a diagnostic method to address the first disease. However, specialists and the AECC continue to stress that people who receive a letter for the blood testing appointments go to get tested as a way to prevent colon cancer. “You have to do it because it saves lives. A colon cancer detected in time is a polyp. But if it is diagnosed late, it’s an open and shut case” Aguilar warned. It is reported that laziness, lack of interest, misinformation and even fear of diagnosis are the reasons why the response to this screening against colon cancer remains “very low.”