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- The senior doctor of the Breast
and Endocrine Surgery,
Saiseikai Central Hospital
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Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that affects approximately 40,000 women a year in Japan. Among cancers that affect women, the incidence of breast cancer is the highest, striking approximately one out of every twenty women.
The cause of breast cancer is not clearly known; however, it is considered that the cancer is related to, amongst others, the secretion of the female hormone estrogen, as well as having a hereditary influence.
There is also the aspect of eating habits and how they influence Japanese women's bodies. Today's Japanese women experience their first menstruation at an earlier age and menopause at a later age than ever before. One reason for the increase in breast cancer is thought to be due to the longer period of estrogen secretion. Moreover, there is the decreased tendency of the number of Japanese births accompanied with the increased tendency of older women having babies. These factors are intricately interrelated and affect breast cancer risk.
When breast cancer advances, there is the greater possibility that a greater percentage of the cells have become cancerous, risking spreading to the nearest interstitial cells by breaking a wall of a mammary duct, entering the blood circulation and lymphatic vessels, and spreading to other organs away from the breast, such as lungs, liver, bone, etc. In contrast, there is little chance that cancer originating from other organs will spread to the mammary glands.
- Breast lumps
- A twitch and hollow in the breast
- Redness of breast
- Dark red nipple discharge
- Swollen lymph node under an arm
In May 1988, Mikiko Otonashi suspected that she might have a lump in her breast and promptly visited a clinic, thinking, "No, it can't be true." Although she received a referral letter to the university hospital at the clinic, she postponed the visit, believing it would be best to go after the shooting of her current project was finished.
"Maybe, I wanted to think that 'I'm still in my thirties. It could not happen to me.'"
After two and a half months had lapsed, and after having felt strong pains in her breast, she visited the Breast Surgery at the university hospital. After a doctor examined her, he broke the news: "I strongly suspected that you may have breast cancer. You will need surgery." Her mind went blank...
Mikiko Otonashi was born in 1949 in Tokyo. After graduating from Shoei Girl's High School, she entered Wakakusa Theatrical Company at the age of seventeen. In 1971, she earned her reputation as an actress by performing the heroine in Ms. Otose, a TV drama broadcasted by TBS, which made her a popular name. In 1975, she married an actor, Kunio Murai. Otonashi appeared on many TV dramas, films, and plays, such as a year long historical TV drama series broadcasted by NHK; Onna Taikoki, a leading female character in a Japanese film series, Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro Kamifusen (It's Tough Being a Man: Torajiro - The Paper Balloon), and Takeshi Kitano's film, Sono otoko, kyobo ni tsuki (Violent Cop). In 2004, she published a book, My Wife's Breast - Living with Breast Cancer for Sixteen Years - (published by Kobunsha), that she wrote with her husband.
