CAIRO – 3 August 2022: Dr. Hamdy Abdel Azim, head of the National Committee for the Presidential Initiative for Women’s Health at the Ministry of Health and Population, announced that the recovery rates of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Egypt have significantly improved, thanks to the efforts of the Presidential Initiative during the past two years.
He revealed the latest studies of drugs used in the treatment of breast cancer in Egypt, saying that the treatment protocols used in treating breast cancer in Egypt currently keep pace with the latest treatment protocols used worldwide, and the best drugs were provided without incurring any financial burdens, thus enhancing their confidence in the health system.
He stressed that a report was submitted to President al-Sisi on what the initiative accomplished earlier this month, and it is promising that the percentage of late cases has decreased over the past two years, and that the presidential initiative has contributed to the early detection of breast cancer in many women.
“According to a number of studies conducted up until 2018, that is, before the start of the presidential initiative, 59 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer were in the late stage, while this percentage decreased thanks to the presidential initiative to reach only 29 percent,” he said.
The head of the National Committee for the Presidential Initiative for Women’s Health at the Ministry of Health and Population indicated that the initiative examined 17 million women, and provided awareness to 12 million other women, a huge number, all with the support of the President.
He revealed that the number of cases of breast cancer for the year 2021 is estimated at 2.2 million cases around the world, and he said that the possibility of developing breast cancer increases with age and the presence of some genetic factors, in addition to the presence of a number of risk factors that increase the possibility of infection, including obesity, lack of movement and smoking.
He said that there is a breakthrough in the treatment of breast cancer that occurred in Egypt, through modern treatments such as Verzenio, which are targeted therapies used with hormonal treatments, to stop the proliferation of cancer cells and control the disease, so that some patients at some stage may have the disease disappear to live their lives normally.
He added that the most common tumor in women is “breast cancer”, pointing out that there are different types of breast cancer according to the genetic content of the cells, and each type of them responds to a specific treatment, and therefore the treatment plan is developed on the basis of each case separately.
He added: The types of breast cancer include cases of hormone-positive breast tumors, which represent 80 percent of breast tumors in general, and this group benefits from hormonal therapy, to reduce the estrogen hormone, which led to good results.
He explained that in the past, patients were treated with “chemotherapy”, which led to controlling the tumor for a period of 6 months, then hormonal treatment was used, which led to control for a period of about 16 months, and finally, targeted therapy was used with hormonal therapy, which led to control the tumor for more than 40 months, which represents a major breakthrough.
He pointed out that treatments, such as Verzinho, are used even in the early stages of the disease, or after surgery, with the possibility of using it before surgery to reduce the size of the tumor, explaining that the idea of “total mastectomy” has changed, and the tumor has become partial, noting that the presence of microscopic cells in the body may It leads to relapse and the return of the tumor, but this treatment, leads to improving the chances of no relapse, and complete recovery of the patient after surgery.
He pointed out that modern drugs have improved the survival rate of patients with breast tumors by rates ranging from 30 to 40 percent, explaining that it is taken in parallel with hormonal therapy, and that the treatment stops a specific gene in the cell affected by breast cancer, to prevent its proliferation and increase.
He stressed that the earlier the treatment is used, the better the results, noting that this treatment is taken alone with hormonal therapy, or after chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which leads to improvement and no relapse of patients.
Regarding the segment that benefits from new treatments in “breast tumors,” he said that approximately 40 to 50 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer benefit greatly from this drug.
Egypt Today
