Why Early Detection Isn't Just a Message – It’s the Reason Nelia is Living Life to The Fullest Today

Photo Credit: Supplied by Siya Mahomba (Mango OMC)

When Nelia Annandale noticed subtle changes to her body, she got checked “just to be safe” – even though she felt well and had tested negative for the BRCA1 gene. That decision saved her life, catching breast cancer in time for treatment that gave her back her future.

Cape Town, South Africa (26 October 2026) – Every year during this time, experts, healthcare workers, survivors and warriors come together to champion why early detection matters so much when it comes to breast cancer, largely because of the difference it can make to treatment and survival.

Breast cancer can sometimes be present long before there’s anything to see or feel, which is why regular screening plays such a vital role. When something feels a little off, even if there seems to be a logical explanation for it, it’s always worth getting checked out.

For Cape Town artist and entrepreneur Nelia Annandale, there were plenty of reasons not to suspect breast cancer. She felt completely well. Although breast cancer ran in her family, she had tested negative for the BRCA1 gene mutation, and when she noticed subtle changes in her nipples, she simply put them down to menopause.

Photo Credit: Supplied by Siya Mahomba (Mango OMC)

In November 2017, her gynaecologist recommended she get breast imaging just to be safe. Further investigations and biopsies followed, and Nelia was diagnosed with primary cancer in both breasts. She had trusted that her negative BRCA1 result meant she was in the clear, but the cancer was already at stage 2. Just over two weeks later, she underwent a bilateral mastectomy.

Thankfully, today, more than eight years later, she remains happily in remission.

Nelia now knows that a negative BRCA1 result does not mean there is no risk, and that changes in your breasts should always be taken seriously. Her journey through breast cancer also changed her relationship with art.

“One of the first things I did when I could move my arms again was paint,” she says.

“I painted my breasts, with a white dove resting on my shoulder, and added the words, ‘It cannot undo joy.’ It gave me a way to work through what had happened and to express things that were difficult to put into words.”

Her work since then has explored breast cancer and survivorship. In Five Moments, five figures represent different experiences following a breast cancer diagnosis, with Annandale represented by the central figure reaching towards the light. At the heart of the painting are the words: ‘I am alive because of early detection’.

The years since her diagnosis have been some of the fullest, including becoming a grandmother, travelling, cycling and, after leaving the corporate world in 2023, becoming a full-time artist.

Early detection wasn’t just an abstract message to Nelia. It was the very reason she’s lived these additional years.

“Earlier detection can give us more treatment options and, in some cases, mean less extensive treatment,” emphasises Dr Fatima Hoosain, a surgeon with a particular interest in breast and thyroid health.

“But those clinical benefits are only part of the picture. What matters to the patient is getting back to their life and having more of that life ahead of them.”

Dr Fatima Hoosain and Summer. Photo Credit: Supplied by Siya Mahomba (Mango OMC)

For Hoosain, Nelia’s story illustrates why the value of early detection cannot be measured in clinical outcomes alone:

“When we say early detection saves lives, we should also remember what those lives contain. There are families, careers, relationships, plans and ordinary days behind every survival statistic. That is ultimately what we are trying to protect.”