Every minute a woman dies of breast cancer in world: experts

Experts say every eighth woman in Pakistan suffers from this deadly malignancy

KARACHI:

Every minute, a woman loses her life to breast cancer somewhere in the world, while every eighth woman in Pakistan suffers from this deadly malignancy. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the world, but it can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage.

This was the crux of a seminar on 'Breast Cancer Awareness' held at Dow University of Health Sciences on Wednesday. Pro. Nusrat Shah, Pro Vice Chancellor of Dow University, was the chief guest at the seminar where speakers included Prof Saba Sohail, Principal of Dow Medical College, former MS Civil Hospital Karachi, Dr Noor Muhammad Soomro, Dr Farhat Jalil, Dr Umaima Saleem, Dr Saima and others.

Prof Shah said that October is the month of war against breast cancer, but the weapon for this war is knowledge because we can win this war by spreading awareness. "This is not women's war alone, men have to fight alongside us because in our region decision-makers are men," she said. "It is possible to treat this disease at the initial stage. My own sister is cancer-free now after successful treatment, but my mother and an elder sister have died of this disease," she recalled.

Prof. Shah said that self-diagnosis is the first method to detect this malignancy at an early stage. If anything is suspected, then women should go for screening. She appealed to doctors to play their role in eradicating shyness and shame associated with breast cancer among women. It has been seen that women from some educated families also avoid screening.

Dr Asghar Ali Asghar from Kiran Hospital said that 4.5 million people have died of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but one million women die of breast cancer every year. "The second major cause of death is breast cancer, but in our region, it is the third leading cause of death because we have infectious diseases as the second leading cause after cardiac ailments," Dr Asghar said.

He said that 25 out of 100,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in India, but in Pakistan 34 out of 100,000 women are diagnosed with this disease. In the United States, however, this rate is 20 per million women.

There are certain measures that can be used to reduce the breast cancer rate, he said, adding that women can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 4% by breastfeeding their children for 12 months. Exercise, which includes walking 6,000 steps a day, avoiding processed meat, consuming vegetables, fruits, calcium and vitamin D regularly can protect women against breast cancer, he added.

Separately, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research and Sindh Innovation Research Educational Network (SIREN) also organised 68th Public Awareness Seminar on breast cancer on Wednesday.

While delivering a lecture at the seminar, Dr. Rufina Soomro, Professor of Surgery at the Liaquat National Hospital, expressed serious concerns over the rising incidents of breast cancer in Pakistan, saying that breast cancer has become the most common cancer among Pakistani women.

She said that statistics revealed that one in every eight women has a lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer, while almost 30% of cancers in women are breast cancers. A woman's chances of dying from breast cancer are about one in 36, which is 3%.

She further said that many people are misguided by various kinds of alternative unscientific methods but it is a fact that a delay in treatment could make the malignancy more serious to cure. She dismissed the myth that alternate therapies are effective without surgery and chemo, as cancer treatment is usually worse than the disease.

Talking about risk factors, she said, "Being a woman is the main risk factor for breast cancer, which is 100 times more common in women than men." Risk for breast cancer increases with age, as around 77% of women with breast cancer are over 50 at the time of diagnosis, she added.

The risk of getting breast cancer almost doubles if a woman has one first-degree relative like mother, sister, and daughter with breast cancer, she said. However, 80% of women with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2022.