JEDDAH — The Health Affairs Department in the Qassim Region has introduced a complete program for early detection of breast cancer. The program, staffed by women oncologists, pathologists and radiologists, targets 75,000 patients — aged 35 to 60 — in the region.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Habdan, executive director of the program, described the program, which began last year, as the first of its kind in the region. The Health Ministry is likely to expand the program to other regions after reviewing its success.
“There are five permanent centers and one mobile center in the program,” said Habdan. King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Buraidah, King Saud Hospital in Unaizah, and the general hospitals in Al-Rass Bakeriya and Mudnib are permanent centers, he explained.
He said the program required special budget allocations in order to carry out its mission in an efficient manner and expand its services to other areas. “Some centers in the program still lack necessary equipment and medical facilities,” he explained.
“So far we have been able to cover 14 percent of targeted women in the region,” he said.
“We are providing comprehensive medical services to the targeted group. Patients are diagnosed by a multi-disciplinary-team (MDT) after taking mammograms,” he added.
Mammograms are the most important tool doctors have to help them diagnose, evaluate and follow women who have had breast cancer.
Safe and highly accurate, a mammogram is an X-ray photograph of the breast. The technique has been in use for about 30 years.
Leading experts including the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society now recommend annual mammograms for women over 40. Detecting breast cancer early through mammography means many more women are being treated for breast cancer and are able to protect their breasts.
“Under this program we have so far been able to detect four cancer cases in the early stages. We also found some non-cancerous tumors in some women,” Habdan said. “In order to avoid possible mistakes, mammography images are checked by three experts,” he added.
Habdan emphasized the significance of the program in the wake of growing breast cancer cases among Saudi women as a result of both hereditary and environmental factors.
“We have a relatively young population and we recommend mammography for women aged 35 and 60 every 18 months,” he said.
A public awareness campaign was organized in the region as part of the program in order to enlighten women on the benefits of early diagnosis.
A well-equipped vehicle with oncologists and other experts tours remote areas of the region that do not have hospitals or health centers in order to provide mammography tests.
Breast cancer accounts for 20 percent of all cancers among Saudi women. “About 10 to 15 percent of all breast cancers are thought to be familial and only two-thirds to three-fourths of these cases are due to an inherited mutation,” one expert said.
