Doha: The breast cancer survival rate in Qatar has touched remarkable level of 82 percent because of high standards of diagnosis and treatment methods.
The survival rate is also considered higher than other countries, said Dr Salha Bujassoum, Senior Consultant, medical oncologist, chairperson of medical oncology at Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR).
“According to Qatar cancer registry statistics, the survival from female breast cancer during the period 2013-2015 was relatively high at 82.3% with a confidence interval (CI) of 69.6% — 90.1%. Survival calculations do not take into consideration different variables such as TNM stag it is considered very well compared to other countries,” she told The Peninsula.
The Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM) staging system for breast cancer is an internationally accepted system used to determine the disease stage.
Female breast cancer ranked first amongst all new cases of female malignant cancers with incidence of 39.41%.
“The optimal care of patients with breast cancer is rapidly changing as a result of advances in all aspects of patient care. There is an increasing focus on providing multidisciplinary care for patients with relevant treatment modalities including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and systemic medical interventions,” Dr. Bujassoum added.
According to Dr Bujassoum, the survival rate from breast cancer is high if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage.
“It is important to note that many breast cancers are treatable and patients can survive if it’s diagnosed and treated early,” she said.
“Awareness is a very effective tool that can greatly increase a breast cancer patient’s chances of getting it treated, but this action must be taken in the early stages of the onset of symptoms, sometimes even earlier. For this reason, it is extremely important for women to be aware of the risk factors.
She emphasised that some risk factors cannot be changed such as the age, genetic mutations, reproductive history, having dense breasts, personal history of breast cancer or certain non-cancerous breast diseases, family history of breast or ovarian cancer and previous treatment using radiation therapy.
However, according to Dr. Bujassoum other risk factors such as not being physically active, being overweight or obese after menopause, taking hormones, reproductive history such as having the first pregnancy after age 30, not breastfeeding, and never having a full-term pregnancy can raise breast cancer risk can be changed.
“Research suggests that other factors such as smoking, being exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer, and changes in other hormones due to night shift working also may increase breast cancer risk,” said Dr. Bujassoum.
“If you have a strong family history of breast cancer or inherited changes in your BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, you may have a high risk of getting breast cancer. You may also have a high risk for ovarian cancer. Talk to your doctor about ways to reduce your risk, such as medicines that block or decrease estrogen in your body, or surgery,” she added.
Dr. Bujassoum insisted that, women should be aware of symptoms and signs of breast cancer and some warning signs are, new lump in the breast or underarm (armpit), thickening or swelling of part of the breast, irritation or dimpling of breast skin, redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast, pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area, nipple discharge other than breast milk, including blood, any change in the size or the shape of the breast, pain in any area of the breast.
“Keep in mind that these symptoms can happen with other conditions that are not cancer. If you have any signs or symptoms that worry you, be sure to see your doctor right away,” she added.
The national breast cancer screening programs under the PHCC screen women between the age of 45 and 69 years.
“Women suspected to have breast cancer if have symptoms or no symptoms but had abnormal screening result will get rapid access to the Hamad medical corporation triple assessment breast clinic Any suspected case of cancer will be referred to breast clinic by physicians from primary health center and private healthcare facilities.
They will be seen within 48 hours and undergo assessment, imaging, and a biopsy test on the same day at the ‘One Stop Clinic,” said Dr. Bujassoum.
“If cancer is detected then they will be discussed in a multi-disciplinary committee team,” that consist of medical oncology, radiation oncology, breast surgeon, pathologist, radiologist nurses and lymphedema were they put together treatment recommendation plan she said.
