BREAST CANCER CARE IN YEMEN

*Prof. Dr. Gamal Abdul Hamid

ABSTRACT

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in Yemen and the first leading cause of cancer death. Breast cancer data from Yemen's main cancer registries NOC, Aden, Taiz, Mukalla, Sayoun and shabwah showed a variation in the number of cases reported by each registry and ranged between 13.8% to 22% according to oncology centers reports. Although the incidence of breast cancer in Yemen is lower than that in industrialized nations, the number of new cases has been significantly increasing, and women present with breast cancer at younger age and with more advanced disease than women in Western countries by at least one decade, as about 73% of women were aged 50 years or younger at the time of diagnosis and the most common age group affected was 41-50 years old. IDC cancer was the most common disease with 76% and 79% of patients having lymph node injury at the time of diagnosis. The lower incidence of breast cancer compared to high-income countries can be attributed to various reproductive factors such as fertility rates, premature birth and the duration of breastfeeding among Yemeni women, unlike women in Western countries. During the years 2019-2020 AD, the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer witnessed a relative improvement, as sonar and mammogram devices were introduced to some centers, and this helped in the early detection of breast cancer as well as the development of diagnostic techniques and work on examining the ER, PR, Her 2 and this calls for the need to add 6 mammogram devices and pathology laboratories. For oncology centers, the national program of cancer control has worked, in coordination with the World Health Organization, to provide targeted treatment for oncology centers, which has a positive role in improving the patients' condition. Here, we review the epidemiology of breast cancer and the status of breast cancer care in Yemen; we compare our treatment outcomes with international ones.

Keywords: Breast cancer, National program, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention, Yemen.