Oncology seminar: ‘Breast cancer a leading cause of death’

Chemo, radiation therapy greatly reduce recurrence risk, say experts.

LAHORE:

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women in Pakistan and regular screening is critical to early diagnosis and treatment of the disease, said experts at a seminar here on Saturday.

The Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (Inmol) and Sanofi Oncology Pakistan organised the seminar at Alhamra on The Mall which was attended by a large number of college students, doctors, paramedics and nurses.

Inmol Director Dr Abubakar Shahid said that breast cancer was the most common form of cancer among women. He said the institution had been treating cancer patients for 28 years and offered state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment services including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and PET scans for free. For several years, mobile breast screening units had been going to rural and urban areas to conduct mammographies, he said.

Dr Shahid, who has a PhD in breast cancer oncology, also briefed the audience about the number of patients treated at Inmol from 1990 to 2011. He said 1,463 oncology patients were registered at Inmol in 1990, rising to 2,234 in 1995, 2,839 in 2005 and 4,087 in 2011. He said 17,891 cancer patients had visited the institute in 2005-06 for follow-up treatment, 24,781 in 2008-09 and 54,897 in 2011-12.

Consultant Oncologist at Inmol Dr Amira Shami elaborated upon the role of chemotherapy, hormones and radiation therapy in the treatment of breast cancer. She said that mortality from breast cancer was decreasing because of improved treatment, which usually involved medical and radiation therapy in addition to surgery. She said that chemotherapy decreased the risk of cancer recurrence and death by 30 per cent. Radiation therapy decreased the risk of local relapse of the disease by 50 per cent.

Consultant radiologist Dr Zeeshan Rasheed Mirza said that breast cancer was the leading cause of cancer deaths in Pakistani women. He said mammograms helped to detect breast cancer at the initial stages and were safe, quick and relatively painless.

Inmol consultant surgeon Dr Samina Khokhar talked about the importance of surgery in breast cancer cases.

At the end, some breast cancer survivors shared their experiences about the disease and treatment process. The seminar concluded after a question and answer session.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2012.