Moot to discuss prevalence of cancer in developing countries opens today

A three-day high-profile conference to discuss prevalence and causes of cancer leading to death particularly in developing countries will open at the SIUT (Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation) today.

The conference is jointly organised by the prestigious American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the SIUT. Some leading cancer specialists from Europe and North America are taking part in the conference.

According to statistics released by the American society, some 148,000 Pakistanis are diagnosed with cancer annually with over 100,000 deaths caused by it.

Management and treatment of hematological malignancies, breast and lung cancers, colon cancers are important topics which will be discussed during three days of proceedings. The American society which was established in 1954 with worldwide membership of 45 000 practicing oncologists including Pakistan has decided to take the war against cancer globally. The conference is a part of the global war. Workshop to carry out research, education and promotion of high quality patient care are also part of the conference.

Highlighting the ever-growing rate of the burden of cancer in the society, experts underlined the need to reduce the burden of the ailment by implementing known cancer preventing strategies.

Smoking and use of tobacco has been described as the most important contributing factor.

They also underlined the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, healthy diet and cancer screening as a vital component for preventing cancer.