Breast cancer - the second most common type of cancer in Pakistan

• 
  
  According to researcher breast cancer is the most common female cancer in both developing and developed countries.

  Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer in Pakistan and ranked first in the Pakistani women. There is a significant increase in the number of cases in Pakistan has since the 1970s, partly due to the modern lifestyle. Around 1 in 7 to 8 women in Pakistan get breast cancer during their lives. Pakistan faces a high burden of breast cancer disease with late stage presentation being a common feature. It has been seen that more than half of the patients present in advanced stages (stages III and IV).

  Fact and figures provided by different researchers:

  Dr Junaid S Khan from University of Health Sciences stated that more than 90,000 of the 1 million global cases of breast cancer are from Pakistan, and half of that number from Punjab.

  Sohail & Alam,2007 reported, Pakistani women get the disease at a far younger age than Western women, with larger lesions, and are more prone to metastatic cancers. The predominant morphology is a higher rate of infiltrating ductal carcinoma.

  Dr Jo Anne Zujewski said that Pakistan has emerged as one of the countries with the highest rate of breast cancer mortality rate with around 40,000 deaths a year. Quoting different researches, she said that the Western lifestyle is one of the major reasons behind the increasing cases of breast cancer worldwide, but since that lifestyle is not prevalent in Pakistan, the reasons for increasing cases of breast cancer in the country are yet to be found through research.
  There is a need for mass awareness in the country so that every woman could have an early check-up for breast cancer.

  The main cause of breast cancer is still unknown:

  But different factors can become the cause.

  ·         The risk factors that can trigger the disease are sex, age, childbearing, hormones, a high-fat diet, alcohol intake, obesity, and environmental factors such as tobacco use and radiation.

  ·         Hereditary factors play a role, but research is still on its way to find the cause of breast cancer.

  ·         Consuming vegetables and fruits polluted with pesticides, nuclear radiation.

  ·          The Western lifestyle is some of the reasons behind breast cancer, but its causes are unknown in Pakistan.

  ·         There is a possibility of men being afflicted with breast cancer as well, but it depends on the family history.

  ·         A significant increase in risk of breast cancer can be  associated with history of smoking,  family marriage,  family history of breast cancer, late age at first full-term pregnancy (above 25 years) & higher body mass index (greater than or equal to 28). 

  ·         Late age at menopause can be a strong detem1inant of postmenopausal breast cancer risk.

  ·         Cousins marriage is still a common practice here which can be the main cause of breast cancer.

  Ignorance plays a big role in the too-late-to-be-effective diagnosis of breast cancer in Pakistan. Here, it’s culturally unheard of to get yourself checked/ go for a routine mammogram/breast sonogram unless you have a noticeably hard lump and are forced by family members to consult a doctor.

  Ahmed, Mahmud, Hatcher, Khanm, 2006 reported it that breast cancers in Pakistan often go undetected for so long that the majority of people are already in their 3rd or 4th stages by the time they realize they have it.

  Compared to the West, the average age to be afflicted with breast cancer is much lower in Pakistan due to a different life expectancy in the region.