Women in the Middle East often suffer more aggressive forms of breast cancer than Western women, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar ( WCMC-Q) have found .
WCMC-Q’s Assistant Dean for Basic Science Curriculum, Dr Lotfi Chouchane, the lead author of the research report, said that Arab populations had some particularities in terms of cancer, especially breast cancer, and also that the clinical features of breast cancer among Arab women were different from other populations.
“Inflammatory breast cancer is the most lethal form of the disease and constitutes 1-2% of all breast cancer tumours in the United States,” said Dr Chouchane.
“But a higher proportion of cases are reported in Arab populations. For example in Tunisia, 7 to 10% of all breast cancer is inflammatory. Similarly, in a population-based study in the Gharbiah region of Egypt, inflammatory breast cancer was confirmed as more prevalent than in the United States, constituting up to 11%,” he said.
The research was published in the latest edition of The Lancet Oncology, an internationally respected medical journal. Co-authors were Dr Konduru Sastry, a research associate in microbiology and immunology at WCMC-Q, and Dr Hammouda Boussen from Tunisia.
The report finds that the incidence of breast cancer is lower in Arabic countries than in Europe and the United States but is rising fast. It also finds breast cancers in women from Arab populations have different characteristics to those reported in women from the United States and Europe. For example, 48, the average age of presence of breast cancer in Arab women, is 10 years younger than patients in the US and
Europe.
Dr Chouchane observed that the reduction of incidences of breast cancer and its mortality can be achieved with major efforts in screening and early detection. “Although several awareness campaigns have been undertaken, no structured national programmes exist for population mammography screening in Arab countries.”
He said that the report will be the reference for anybody who wants to undertake studies about breast cancer in Arab populations. “Researchers will refer to it because here we describe all the characteristics of breast cancer in Arab populations based on our own findings and based also on the literature what is found,” he added.
He said breast cancer mortality could be reduced if the disease was detected at an early stage by the implementation of proper awareness and screening programmes that would be possible in countries with sufficient resources. Dr Chouchane also said that further research on cancer should be given priority in Arab countries.
http://www.gulf-times.com/qatar/178/details/366581/arab-women-at-higher-risk-of-aggressive-breast-cancer%3a-study
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