Breast cancer is spreading three times faster in the Kingdom than in other countries.
Issam Mirshe, chairman of the Saudi Oncology Society and oncology and radiation therapy consultant, said that there were 11,862 female breast cancer patients in the Kingdom and only 125 male breast cancer patients over a period of 16 years.
There was also a 65 percent recovery rate among those diagnosed early and those who sought follow-up treatment.
Mirshe said the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) allowed a new drug in the market that treats patients with advanced breast cancer. The drug halts cancer cells from multiplying and is expected to treat 53 percent of cancer patients in the Kingdom.
Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Turki, president of the Saudi Oncology Society, said that statistics available with the National Oncology Register revealed that breast cancer was the most common, accounting for 25.9 percent of all cancer cases, with the Eastern Province registering the highest number of patients.
Abdulmuhsin Al-Milhim, director of Al-Ahsa Health Affairs, said breast cancer patients in the Eastern Province constitute 22 percent of total cases registered in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia accounts for one percent of breast cancer cases worldwide.
“Breast cancer accounts for 25 percent of the total number of female cancer patients who are registered with cancer treatment centers in Riyadh and 35 percent in Jeddah, according to an annual report published by the Ministry of Health in 2009,” said Dean of the College of Medicine Walid Albuali.
Abdulrahim Qari, internal medicine, hematology and oncology consultant in Jeddah, said chronic lymphocytic leukemia is one of the most common forms of cancer.
Arab News
