Cancer is one of the greatest global threats to life. According to statistics from bodies such as the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, one of the most serious cancer diseases that threaten Yemen is breast cancer. One reason behind the increasing rates of breast cancer is illiteracy among Yemeni women which is coupled with a lack of awareness. Various bodies are trying to educate women about the disease. The Saudi German Hospitals Group (SGH) held a workshop titled “Women challenge breast cancer” last week. This workshop aimed to educate women about the causes of breast cancer and how to avoid it.
The SGH manager’s wife, Dalal al-Fadhal, manager of the branch of SGH in Sana’a wife, Dr. Azah al-Kateeb, and many interested women attended this workshop. Some of these women talked about their own experience in examining breast cancer.
“Breast cancer has spread very quickly. We want women to be aware of it and know how to avoid it,” said Radheah al-Yafe’i. “We want to educate people on how to help those who suffer form cancer and how to help them overcome it.”
Al-Yafe’i emphasized the importance of early examination of the disease before it gets worse and being difficult to be treated. “People should have check ups early and not to wait until the cancer cells are at an advanced stage.” “The matte here in Yemen is that there are no specialized clinics; also, it is very difficult to get medicine [due to their high prices].”
The first annual statistics of the early breast cancer diagnosis clinic in the al-Jumhoury Teaching Hospital in Sana’a showed 70 breast cancer cases among 1,550 patients undergoing laboratory examinations during one year. Breast cancer is still an increasing threat to Yemeni women in recent years, a new medical statistics showed.
Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, affecting approximately one out of 12 to 13 women who reach the age of 90 in the Western world. After lung cancer, it is the most fatal cancer in women. For men, the risk is less than one in 1,000.
According to the statistics, the majority of the patients, 506 of them, are living in Sana’a with just one case noted in Lahj governorate. However, the highest rate of breast cancer infection is found among women in al-Hodeidah province, with 13 cases out of 40 patients. The statistics found that just 23 cases of breast cancer among patients coming from various areas in Sana’a governorate. Taiz also uncovered a high rate of infection, 11 cases, out of 40 women visiting the clinic.
The statistics show that Yemeni women between 31 to 40 years old are most likely to develop breast cancer (22 cases found) with women in their fifties (20 cases) next most likely. However, few women in this demographic range visit the clinic.
“It is very serious to find that 10 percent of patients coming to the clinic during one year had breast cancer,” said Dr. Mohammed al-Gaolahi, the head of the clinic. “However, these statistics do not show the exact number of all women infected with this disease in the whole of Yemen, because it is difficult for most patients living in different governorates, especially rural areas, to visit this clinic.”
Dr. Adnan al-Emad, senior general surgery specialist at SGH said that there are many kinds of breast cancer; a few of them are very difficult to be cured.
Al-Emad said that simply being a woman is the main risk factor for developing breast cancer. Although women have many more breast cells than men, the main reason they develop more breast cancer is because their breast cells are constantly exposed to the growth-promoting effects of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone. He added that men can develop breast cancer, but this disease is about 100 times more common among women than men.
Women’s risk of developing breast cancer increases as you get older. About 1 out of 8 invasive breast cancer diagnoses are among women younger than 45, while about 2 out of 3 women with invasive breast cancer are age 55 or older when they are diagnosed. “Those women who get older are more subject to breast cancer than those who are young,” said al-Emad.
Al-Emad talked about reasons behind breast cancer: one of them is not doing exercises, and another reason is smoking. “Women do not know that there is relation between smoking and breast cancer.
The increasing tendency for women to smoke sheesha accounts for some of this increase in cancer statistics. Sheesha is highly dangerous because it mixes tobacco with fermented fruits, according to a document from Tobacco News and Information. The smoke contains carbon monoxide, tar, and heavy metals, which are known carcinogens, just like any other tobacco product.
There are mixed views about the link between breast cancer and tobacco, but according to a study published by the Tobacco Free Initiative at the World Health Organization, Danish women interviewed at the time of mammography, who had smoked for more than 30 years had a 60 percent higher risk of breast cancer.
Sheesha is not the only factor causing breast cancer in Yemen. A link has also been found between genetic abnormalities and this disease. These abnormalities are more prevalent due to the practice of first-cousin marriages in Yemeni society.
Marriages among Yemenis are often between first cousins. According to a document published by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, two specific genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, are key elements in the development of breast cancer. Every woman has these genes, but some women inherit a mutated form of one or both genes, leading to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
This mutated form of BRCA1 or BRCA2 normally accounts for only about 5 to 10 percent of all cases of breast cancer, but because these genes are inherited, a long history of inbreeding within a family may cause them to predominate within a family’s gene pool.
Additionally, both early and late menstruation can be a catalyst for breast cancer. When a woman is menstruating, she is hormonally active. These hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, have been found to contribute to breast cancer. “Women who begin menstruating early, at 9 or 10 years of age, or those who continue menstruation later than average—past 55 years of age—are exposed to breast cancer and their effects for a longer period of time than the average woman,” pointed out al-Emad.
Breast cancer risk is higher among women whose close blood relatives have this disease. Having one first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter) with breast cancer approximately doubles a woman’s risk. Having 2 first-degree relatives increases her risk about 5-fold. Although the exact risk is not known, women with a family history of breast cancer in a father or brother also have an increased risk of breast cancer. Altogether, about 20 to 30 percent of women with breast cancer have a family member with this disease. (It’s important to note this means that 70 to 80 percent of women who get breast cancer do not have a family history of this disease.)
“Women who have a female relative suffering form breast cancer should go to the doctor to check up and make sure that she herself does not suffer form the same disease,” added al-Emad.
Al-Emad said that discovering breast cancer early is very effective and would help them- doctors- to overcome it. “I always advise women check up before the disease get worse. If a woman feels that there is some thing wrong with her breast she must immediate goes to the doctor for examination before more extreme treatments become necessary.
The manager of SGH branch of Sana’a wife, Dr. Azah al-Kateeb also talked about reasons behind breast cancer. She agreed with al-Emad that smoking is one reason behind breast cancer. “High weight, eating more of canned food because they consist many chemical martial, drinking big amount of tea and coffee, berating smoking of diesel, polluting water all these are causes of breast cancer.” She said to avoid breast cancer we should keep ourselves away form the reasons mentioned above.