Humaid bin Harmal Al Shamsi, President of the Emirates Oncology Society, stated that the cure rates for breast cancer in the country match those in the United States of America, through the largest study on breast cancer in the country published by the American Cancer Society.
Al Shamsi, who is the principal investigator in the study, in which 50 researchers and cancer specialists participated, and took more than two years, added that the study of the results of treating breast cancer patients in the country revealed a success rate of up to 89% for all stages of the disease, for a period of five years of follow-up. It is the highest rate in the Gulf (the five-year survival rate in Qatar is 71.95% and Kuwait is 75.2%), and it is also consistent with the success rates in the United States.
Al Shamsi stated that the high success rate of treatment in the UAE is due to the availability of modern diagnostic and treatment methods.
He continued, “The study also showed an increase in breast cancer cases in the country in recent years, especially among young women, in contrast to a decrease in the incidence of breast cancer in the advanced stages,” pointing to the increase in the demand for early examination of breast cancer.
The study showed that the incidence of breast cancer in advanced stages was about 10.1% in 2014, it decreased to 8.7% in 2015, and it also decreased to 7% in 2017.
Al Shamsi said that the rates of breast cancer are the highest in the UAE among all types of cancer, as they constitute about 36% of all cancers affecting women, according to the data of the official cancer registry in the UAE (issued by the Ministry of Health and Community Protection for the year 2019).
The study showed that there is an increase in the number of breast cancer cases in the country, as it reached 883 cases in 2019 compared to 768 cases in 2014, and this increase is a global phenomenon, because breast cancer has become the most common cancer in the world in 2020, while it was previously lung cancer. It is the highest in the world. Al Shamsi stated that 21% of women with breast cancer in the UAE are under the age of forty, which is also an important phenomenon, because early screening for breast cancer in women begins at the age of forty.
He explained that the percentage of women with breast cancer in the United States of America, between the ages of 25 and 45, is 31%, while women of the same age group in the UAE constitute 69%.
Al Shamsi stated that the rate of breast cancer for women in the country comes at the age of 48, compared to 62 years in the United States of America, and breast cancer causes 11.5% of all cancer deaths in the UAE.
He stressed the importance of raising awareness of breast cancer, as it is a priority to educate women about the importance of early screening for cancer, and that early detection of the disease in its early stages enhances the chances of recovery to a rate ranging between 90% and 95%, while the cure rate does not exceed 10% in advanced cases.
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