RIYADH, 10 March 2003 — Professor Umberto Veronesi, co-winner of this year’s King Faisal International Prize for Medicine, will cooperate with King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, in setting up a new facility for the treatment of breast cancer. The proposed facility would have world-class staff and equipment for the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
“Saudi women are different from women in the West. They don’t usually discuss any breast problems with doctors, so there is a great need for an educational campaign to teach them the importance of mammography,” Professor Veronesi told Arab News. According to him, breast cancer is a major cause of mortality among Saudi women. It is, however, curable in 90 percent of the cases if detected and treated in the initial stage.
According to Dr. Osama Al-Malik, consultant breast surgeon, Department of Surgery at KFSH&RC, the hospital sees about 500 cases of breast cancer and 2,000 follow-up cases every year. He said that the average age of Saudi women with breast cancer is 46 compared to Western women at 55.
He paid tributes to the King Faisal Foundation for giving him the award. It shows that the foundation recognizes no boundaries in honoring members of the scientific community. Italian Ambassador Torquato Cardilly paid tribute to KFF for choosing Professor Veronesi for the prestigious award which he described as “the Arab Nobel Prize.”
Speaking about his innovative approach to treating breast cancer, Professor Veronesi said he had discovered that in most cases, removing the breast was not necessary.
“My idea was that if limited surgery were carried out in conjunction with chemotherapy, we might destroy the cancer without the need for a mutilating operation. In addition, the patient would enjoy a better quality of life.”
Professor Veronesi explained that he undertook a major study in Milan in the early 1970s during which he compared 350 women who had had a mastectomy because of breast cancer with a similar number of patients who had had breast conservation and radiotherapy. The patients were followed up for 30 years.
“We are absolutely certain that the second group of patients did not have any side effects even as they benefited from the treatment. This method, which proved to be safe and valid, has benefited over one million women around the world. Some 300,000 women worldwide have now saved their breasts.”
