Health: 1.6 Million Diagnosed With Breast Cancer In 2010

For years, it was assumed that young women in poor countries had a higher risk of dying in childbirth than from cancer. But a new study shows that's changing – experts say breast and cervical cancers are killing more women than labor in over 60 developing countries.

In the first global review of breast and cervical cancer, researchers estimated the number of new breast cancer cases rose from about 641,000 cases in 1980 to 1.6 million cases last year.

Experts in the new study found that cervical cancer rose from 378,000 new cases in 1980 to about 454,000 cases in 2010, with most of those cases in the developing world. Still, the death rate has been dropping as more countries introduce regular screening.

Officials estimate that about 343,000 women every year die in childbirth, most in the developing world. In comparison, breast cancer kills 425,000 women a year while cervical cancer kills about 200,000.

The increase in breast cancer is partly explained by aging populations, since older women are more vulnerable. But the globalization of bad habits – people eating more fatty foods and exercising less – is also driving the growth, particularly in Asia and Latin America.

"People may wonder what the urgency is in addressing these cancers, but the numbers are staggering," said Jan Coebergh, a cancer expert at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

However, a Welsh student has made a scientific breakthrough which could stop people dying from breast cancer by halting the spread of the disease, his university announced.

Luke Piggott, a Ph.D. student at Cardiff University, Wales, discovered a way to switch off breast cancer stem cells' resistance to a particular drug. Cancer stem cells make up only a small proportion of the cells in a tumor but many scientists believe they are responsible for cancer growth, spread and relapse. They are also highly drug-resistant.

Piggott's supervisor, Richard Clarkson, said, "We believe we have found a crucial 'Achilles heel' in breast cancer stem cells. We can almost completely shut down their ability to spread the disease through the body through secondary tumors. Our success with repeat treatments is also important, offering hope that we can reduce relapse rates of the disease."

Researchers at the university now plan to expand the study and eventually trial the method on breast cancer in the body.

The Ahmadiyya Post hopes that Cardiff University and all other universities continue their ground-breaking research into breast cancers. May God allow them to find the answers they are looking for.


To learn about the symptoms and effects of Breast Cancer, visit www.breastcancer.org



The Ahmadiyya Post, Health. By Zubair Ahmed. Sept 16, 2011