Call: Enhance collaborative research, screening to curb breast cancer

KILIMANJARO: EXPERTS have highlighted the need for urgent action to prevent the projected escalation of breast cancer in Africa over the coming years.

Such cancer cases are projected to rise significantly, reaching over 3 million new cases and one million deaths per year worldwide by 2040.

“Currently, 8.3 per cent of global breast cancer cases occur in Africa, accounting for 12.5 per cent of global breast cancer deaths,” Senior Lecturer and Consultant General Surgeon Dr Josephine Nsaful of the University of Ghana Medical School, stated.

Dr Nsaful presented these findings at the Precision Medicine for Aggressive Breast Cancer (PMABC) workshop, recently held in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region.

Dr Alex Mremi from the Department of Pathology at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) Zonal Referral Hospital described breast cancer as a prevalent and deadly disease with pronounced disparities in screening, diagnosis and treatment outcomes worldwide.

ALSO READ: Workers urged to harness data for improved healthcare

“Screening is one of the most effective strategies to lower mortality rates associated with breast cancer. However, in resource-constrained settings, access to screening services is limited and often only available at a few referral hospitals,” he noted.

Dr Mremi added that in 2022 alone, breast cancer claimed 670,000 lives globally and half of these cases involved women who had no specific risk factors other than gender and age.

He further explained that breast cancer was the most common form of cancer among women in 157 out of 185 countries.

Although it primarily affects women, around 0.5 to 1 per cent of cases occur in men.