The number of breast cancer cases registered among Jordanian women in 2009 is higher than previously thought, according to a health official.
Director of the Ministry of Health Non-Communicable Diseases Directorate Mohammad Tarawneh said 914 women were diagnosed with breast cancer last year, a figure that is expected to rise after factoring in the number of Jordanian women who were diagnosed with the disease abroad.
Tarawneh made the remarks at a seminar on breast cancer held yesterday by Roche pharmaceutical company, where he revealed that Jordan has the third highest breast cancer prevalence in the Arab world, behind Lebanon and Bahrain.
He added that over the last five years, the annual increase in the breast cancer cases among Jordanian women has stood at 5 per cent.
According to official figures, 855 new breast cancer cases were registered in 2008.
Tarawneh noted that an oncologist committee was recently established to conduct “blind studies” to determine breast cancer risk factors for Jordanian women.
However, some 10 to 15 per cent of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, according to oncologist Hekmat Abdul Razzaq.
He explained that genetic testing can single out mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and allow oncologists to conduct a preventive mastectomy for women with a family history of the disease.
According to Cancer.org, preventive (prophylactic) mastectomy, the removal of both breasts prior to a cancer diagnoses, reduces the risk of breast cancer by up to 97 per cent.
Also yesterday, health experts called on women to undergo regular breast cancer screening.
Jordan Breast Cancer Programme Director Yara Halabi said the programme will intensify its efforts to train more doctors and nurses on breast cancer diagnosis.
She noted that the programme will also focus on home visits to educate women on the importance of regular screening.
Official figures indicate that patients who detect cancer in stage one have a 98 per cent survival rate, while those who discover it in stage two have an 88 per cent survival rate. That rate, however, drops to 49 per cent and 16 per cent in stages three and four respectively.
Jordan Times