Alarming Rise in Breast Cancer Cases

By Habib Shaikh
Khaleej Times

A GROUP, formed recently, is working to educate the Saudi people about the alarming rise in breast cancer cases in the Kingdom. The organisation, named Zahra, which has official approval from the Ministry of Social Affairs, has some big supporters.
Princess Haifa bint Faisal bin Abdulaziz, heads the group’s board. Before receiving the stamp of approval, the non-profit organisation was named the National Organisation for Breast Cancer Education. The organisation has pledged to draw attention to the disease from qualified specialists and educate patients.
"We will direct the patients to where they should go and what stage they have reached," Princess Haifa said. More than one million cases of breast cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year, with the majority in developed countries.
"King Faisal Hospital alone sees about 600-700 a year, a huge increase from recent years," said Ayman Linjawi, a breast-cancer surgeon at the hospital. Studies show that breast cancer constitutes 18 per cent of all cancers in Saudi Arabia. Only lung cancer is more prevalent in the kingdom.
Training programmes
Princess Haifa outlined a wide range of training and scholarship programmes specifically aimed at eradicating breast cancer. She said the organisation will hold forums inviting renowned researchers to the kingdom, and hopefully come up with real solutions.
In Saudi Arabia, there are several other breast cancer associations, such as the non-profit Saudi Cancer Society in Riyadh, the Al Eiman Association in Jeddah, the Health Promotion Society and the Saudi Cancer Foundation in the Eastern Province.
Of the 550 cases of breast cancer diagnosed every year, Riyadh region accounts for 50 per cent of cases, and the Eastern Province registers 26 per cent. It is more common in the 30 to 50 age-group, and 73 per cent of reported cases are in advance stages.
Women not seeking medical help
"In Saudi Arabia the number of reported cases of breast cancer is alarming but the actual figure is much higher with many women not seeking medical help especially those in rural areas, "said Linjawi.
Women tend to look upon the disease as one that happens to other people, but it attacks all age groups and is a disease that needs to be tackled. Among cancer patients in Saudi Arabia, breast cancer accounts for 18 per cent of all cases with most patients under the age of 50 and all undergo multi-modality treatment that includes surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy, tamoxifen and adjuvant radiotherapy. Between 1975 and 1991 the reported cases of early breast cancer accounted for 36 per cent of women, much lower than the 64 per cent of women who were already suffering from the more advanced stages of cancer. Worse still is that Saudi women account for 20 per cent of the breast cancer cases worldwide.
Early detection helpful
Badea Abdulaziz is just one of those women. The 76-year-old housewife initially refused to believe she had cancer because there was no pain.
"The doctors said the disease was in my breast but I felt nothing until after I was injured and that was when the tumours started to appear," she said. Linjawi said public awareness about breast cancer was crucial and was already helping to reduce mortality rates.
One of the more sinister aspects of this form of cancer is that women can suffer for years without realising they have tumours, simply because there is no pain, and when they do feel pain it is all too often too late. He stressed that the earlier the cancer was detected the better the chances of recovery.