Regular tests crucial in breast cancer prevention

Manama: Women should overcome their shyness and have regular breast examinations to help detect fatal developments, a health expert has said.

“Girls and women should not be too shy to have the tests in their own homes and in clinics to ensure that they do not suffer from cancer,” Dr Samia Al Jowder said. “Many cases could have been cured if the women had not been too coy to have their tests examined or even examine themselves in the privacy of their homes,” she told a group of students at the University of Bahrain.

Al Jowder, dubbed by many as Bahrain’s Mother Theresa for her dedication to helping the needy and the sick in the kingdom, warned students not to be complacent about the health checks on the grounds that their families had no cancer history.

According to a recent local study, breast cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm affecting women in Bahrain.

Several organisations in Bahrain have launched awareness campaigns to encourage women to have regular home and clinical check-ups.

Breast cancer is the second most frequent cause of cancer-related deaths in women today, after lung, and it is the most common cancer among women worldwide (23% of all new cancer cases). A woman in the USA has a 1-in-8 chance of developing breast cancer and a 1-in-28 chance of succumbing to the disease over her lifetime.

 

Frequency of Breast Cancer in Arab World

(Study by Inas Elattar - National Cancer Institute, Cairo University)