More Jordanian women over 50 diagnosed with breast cancer than in West, expert says

AMMAN — More Jordanian women over the age of 50 are being diagnosed with breast cancer compared with their Western counterparts, who are more inclined to suffer from the disease after 60, an expert said Saturday.

The reason has to do with the fact that Jordan has a relatively young population, explained Sanaa Al Sukhun, president of the Jordan Oncology Society.

"This means that there are more people aged 50 and younger; thus, there are women prone to suffer breast cancer at a younger age than their international peers," Sukhun told The Jordan Times.

On the other hand, the overall number of Jordanian women diagnosed with breast cancer compared to the population is a quarter lower than the international level, according to Sukhun, who is also a consultant in medical oncology and haematology.

The early detection of breast cancer is on the rise in Jordan, a development the expert attributes to the success of awareness campaigns that shed light on the importance of self-examinations and undergoing mammograms, she noted.

"Not all cancers require chemotherapy. A minor surgery and a hormonal pill is all that are required in many cases," said Sukhun, adding that only one in every 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer has a family history of the disease.

Similar to other countries, financial challenges remain the main problem when it comes to breast cancer, she noted.

"The high cost of the medication is a global challenge facing healthcare providers worldwide, but we are fortunate that most of the drugs are available in Jordan along with state-of-the art radiology and surgical techniques."

A total of 5,013 Jordanians and 2,441 non-Jordanians residing in the Kingdom were diagnosed with cancer in 2012, according to the Health Ministry’s annual statistics report for 2015, the Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) said in a recent statement.

Some 2,667 Jordanian women were among those diagnosed, constituting 53.2 per cent, according to SIGI.

Breast cancer was the most common form of cancer among Jordanian females, with 994 diagnoses in 2012 (37.3 per cent), while lung cancer was the most common type of cancer among Jordanian males, with 282 cases (12.4 per cent).