Breast cancer rate in Pakistan highest in Asia

LAHORE:Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology Lahore (INMOL) Director Dr Abu Bakar Shahid has said that Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) with a network of 18 cancer hospitals has been catering to the treatment of 80 percent cancer patients in the country.

“The Atomic Energy Commission will start operation of its 19th hospital in Gilgit this year, while 20th hospital will soon be established in Muzaffarabad,” he said while addressing a seminar on “Cancer is Curable” organised by Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman Memorial Society (MKRMS) (Jang Group of Newspapers) in collaboration with Himmel Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd here at a local hotel the other day.

Director INMOL Dr Abu Bakar Shahid said that the patients of breast cancer were growing rapidly as 1.38 million new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually in Pakistan out of which 0.458 million women die every year. The breast cancer rate in Pakistan is highest among Asian countries. However, he said that almost 99 percent breast cancer patients, if diagnosed at an early stage, are treatable. Globally, he said, as many as 9.6 million people die of cancer every year.

Besides high ratio of breast cancer incidence in Pakistan, he said, the most common cancers include prostate, gynaecological, lung as well as mouth and neck cancer incidences. However, he said that the governments did not give due attention to cancer disease because of frequent epidemics including Typhoid, Malaria, TB, Dengue, other vaccine-preventable diseases and now coronavirus.

Dr Abu Bakar said that INMOL is the largest among the network of cancer hospitals working under Atomic Energy Commission in the country, saying that machinery and equipment such as PET scan at INMOL can be compared with facilities at any private hospital in the country. “We have foreign qualified faculty and doctors as well as highly trained medical staff to look after the cancer patients at INMOL which was established in 1984,” he said.

Himmel Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd, General Manager Sales and Marketing Dr Usman Amin Butt said that the early detection of cancer helps achieve 100 percent recovery, but unfortunately, the cancers were detected at a very late stage in Pakistan. “We have been spreading awareness regarding early detection of cancer among the general public,” he added. Head of Department of Breast Cancer, INMOL, Dr Misbah Masood said that the breast cancer incidences were also reported among men. However, the ratio of breast cancer among men and women is 1:100. He said that as many as 2.26 million people were diagnosed with cancer in 2020 with highest number of incidence of breast cancer. Besides, he said, as many as 0.8 million women died of breast cancer in the year 2020. In Pakistan, he said, as many as 36,000 cases of breast cancer among women were reported in 2020 out of which 13,000 women died. “One in every nine women in Pakistan is likely to suffer from breast cancer in her lifetime,” he added.

He advised the women that they must examine their breasts and every woman after the age of 40 years must get her mammography scan done. “Late diagnosis of breast cancers reduces chances of recovery from 1 to 10 percent,” he added.

INMOL’s Dr Rab Nawaz Mekan said that the prostate cancer was usually detected among patients of elderly age, saying that INMOL offered complete treatment of prostate cancer including radiation, operation and hormonal therapy.

Dr Imran Abdullah said that the prevalence of the incidence of large intestine cancer was proportional among men and women, which was usually detected after the age of 55 years. “The early detection of large intestine cancer enhances the chances of recovery,” he added. Dr Rehan Abdullah said that lump tumor affected immunity system which was ranked 11th among incidences of all cancers with 0.6 million cases of lump cancer in the year 2020 globally. “All facilities of lump cancer are available at INMOL,” he informed.

Besides, Dr Madeeha Khan spoke about gynecological cancers among women, Dr Sadia Sadiq about lung cancer, Dr Wajiha Anjum about mouth and neck cancer, Dr Arzoo Fatima about nuclear medicine, while Dr Numair Younas informed the audience about Atomic Energy Commission’s facilities and services for diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients at INMOL.