A two-day symposium on breast cancer has highlighted a variety of barriers affecting the effective treatment of the disease.
Breast cancer accounts for an estimated one in five cancers in Kenya, and it accounts for the third highest number of deaths from cancer. Cancer experts at the ongoing second International Breast Cancer Symposium highlighted the need to implement breast cancer guidelines to effectively manage the disease at all stages from screening, diagnostics to treatment especially in low-resource areas.
Professor Ben Anderson, chair and director of Breast Health Global Initiative, said the majority of breast cancer cases in Kenya and the region are diagnosed at Stage 3 and 4 due to a lack of early diagnosis initiatives when curative cancer treatment is most practical and affordable.
“System barriers including cost of imaging and tissues sampling, appropriate diagnostics and the lack of trained and specialised personnel in most sub-Saharan African countries," said Professor Anderson. “There are low hanging fruits that we can improve on to streamline processes through proposed guidelines and increase uptake of early diagnosis. Collaborative relationships between the medical community, policymakers and civil society groups are vital to create more awareness that will increase breast cancer screening at primary healthcare settings,” he added.
Dr Miriam Mutebi, chair of the symposium and a surgeon at Aga Khan University Hospital, noted an improvement in local, regional, and continental guidelines around breast cancer, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The application of these guidelines especially in low-resource settings requires a systematic approach recognising the diversity of the healthcare environment and steps to make use of available resources without compromising the quality of care to breast cancer patients, she explained.
“In the sub-Saharan Africa region, breast cancer patients tend to present much younger by about 10-15 years than their western counterparts,” said Dr Mutebi.
She noted that patients in sub-Saharan Africa are also diagnosed with more advanced cancers due to a combination of health system, financial and patient-related factors. They also frequently do not complete their treatment due to sociocultural barriers because women are frequently not the primary decision makers and may have to rely on their partners and spouses for financial support in order to access care. Myths and stigma around breast cancers may cause further delays in patients accessing care, she noted.
“Limited resources should not determine the quality of care a patient receives, and it’s within this context that doctors and policymakers endeavor to improve health systems and care delivery for patients regardless of the resource setting,” Dr Mutebi concluded.
National Cancer Institute Chief Executive Officer Dr Alfred Karagu highlighted a number of challenges affecting the fight against breast cancer management and cancer in general including health systems inequalities which limit diagnosis and treatment opportunities, inadequate cancer research infrastructure and poorly coordinated advocacy efforts for political and social action. Dr Karagu added that limited health expenditure in cancer control by governments and international stakeholders, a strong policy bias towards infectious diseases, as well as the limited uptake of screening by women due to financial constrains were obstacles in the way of treating the disease.
“This event involves researchers and scientists from all continents both high and low resource setting coming together to exchange scientific, evidence-based findings that will help in the process of guideline implementation and advance the breast cancer agenda in managing the disease,” said Professor Robert Armstrong, dean of the medical college, East Africa, at Aga Khan University.
The scientific meeting brought together cancer specialists from across the globe. It was jointly organised by the Aga Khan University and Hospital, Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the National Cancer Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, UICC Global Cancer Control, the African Society of Clinical Oncology and the Kenya Society of Haematology and Oncology.
A two-day symposium on breast cancer has highlighted a variety of barriers affecting the effective treatment of the disease.
Breast cancer accounts for an estimated one in five cancers in Kenya, and it accounts for the third highest number of deaths from cancer. Cancer experts at the ongoing second International Breast Cancer Symposium highlighted the need to implement breast cancer guidelines to effectively manage the disease at all stages from screening, diagnostics to treatment especially in low-resource areas.
Professor Ben Anderson, chair and director of Breast Health Global Initiative, said the majority of breast cancer cases in Kenya and the region are diagnosed at Stage 3 and 4 due to a lack of early diagnosis initiatives when curative cancer treatment is most practical and affordable.
“System barriers including cost of imaging and tissues sampling, appropriate diagnostics and the lack of trained and specialised personnel in most sub-Saharan African countries," said Professor Anderson. “There are low hanging fruits that we can improve on to streamline processes through proposed guidelines and increase uptake of early diagnosis. Collaborative relationships between the medical community, policymakers and civil society groups are vital to create more awareness that will increase breast cancer screening at primary healthcare settings,” he added.
Dr Miriam Mutebi, chair of the symposium and a surgeon at Aga Khan University Hospital, noted an improvement in local, regional, and continental guidelines around breast cancer, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The application of these guidelines especially in low-resource settings requires a systematic approach recognising the diversity of the healthcare environment and steps to make use of available resources without compromising the quality of care to breast cancer patients, she explained.
“In the sub-Saharan Africa region, breast cancer patients tend to present much younger by about 10-15 years than their western counterparts,” said Dr Mutebi.
She noted that patients in sub-Saharan Africa are also diagnosed with more advanced cancers due to a combination of health system, financial and patient-related factors. They also frequently do not complete their treatment due to sociocultural barriers because women are frequently not the primary decision makers and may have to rely on their partners and spouses for financial support in order to access care. Myths and stigma around breast cancers may cause further delays in patients accessing care, she noted.
“Limited resources should not determine the quality of care a patient receives, and it’s within this context that doctors and policymakers endeavor to improve health systems and care delivery for patients regardless of the resource setting,” Dr Mutebi concluded.
National Cancer Institute Chief Executive Officer Dr Alfred Karagu highlighted a number of challenges affecting the fight against breast cancer management and cancer in general including health systems inequalities which limit diagnosis and treatment opportunities, inadequate cancer research infrastructure and poorly coordinated advocacy efforts for political and social action. Dr Karagu added that limited health expenditure in cancer control by governments and international stakeholders, a strong policy bias towards infectious diseases, as well as the limited uptake of screening by women due to financial constrains were obstacles in the way of treating the disease.
“This event involves researchers and scientists from all continents both high and low resource setting coming together to exchange scientific, evidence-based findings that will help in the process of guideline implementation and advance the breast cancer agenda in managing the disease,” said Professor Robert Armstrong, dean of the medical college, East Africa, at Aga Khan University.
The scientific meeting brought together cancer specialists from across the globe. It was jointly organised by the Aga Khan University and Hospital, Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the National Cancer Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, UICC Global Cancer Control, the African Society of Clinical Oncology and the Kenya Society of Haematology and Oncology.