Woman detects breast cancer after radio alert

Dubai: An Indian woman discovered she had breast cancer after her husband asked her to examine herself upon hearing a show on Gulf News radio station on the killer disease.

Dr Houriya Kazim, specialist breast surgeon at the Well Woman Clinic, who was also the featured guest on the October 14 show, told Gulf News that it was provident that her husband heard the show.

"They didn't seem very aware of breast [health]. But after he heard the interview on the radio, he told his wife to check her breast. And lo and behold, she felt a lump," she said.

She said the man then contacted her via e-mail, after doing some research on the internet. He brought his wife to Dr Houriya's clinic for a check-up and a mammogram.

The results of a biopsy of the woman taken yesterday confirmed that she had breast cancer. Dr Houriya credited the woman's husband and Gulf News Broadcasting for possibly saving the woman's life.

Mammogram results

"From the mammogram, it looks bigger in the inside. In her case, she would have presented very late. I really don't think she would have caught it for awhile," she said, adding that the case highlighted the importance of awareness programmes.

"Sometimes in October, I feel overrun with people wanting me to talk about breast cancer and sometimes I feel it goes too far and everyone thinks they are dying during this month. But if it saves one life, it's worth opening my big trap once in a while," she said, smiling.