The UAE's first dedicated Breast Cancer Conference will lead to improvements in
the quality of care through the dissemination of best practice, and the
strengthening of links between the country's cancer centers, local specialists
said today.
Last weekend's conference in Dubai, run by the Emirates Medical Association in
collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Health and the Dubai Health Authority,
was attended by more than 150 oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, surgeons,
family physicians, cancer nurses, and screening technicians.
Delegates heard presentations on best practice in screening, diagnosis,
treatment and after care of the disease, delivered by a number of the UAE's top
oncologists and surgeons, as well as regional and international breast cancer
experts - including eight visiting specialists from the US's MD Anderson Cancer
Center.
"A conference like this will help to ensure that everyone gets first-class
treatment in the future," said Dr. Mohamed Jaloudi, Chief of Medical Oncology at
Tawam Johns Hopkins Hospital, who chaired one of the conference sessions.
"It is every healthcare professional's duty to keep up-to-date with the latest
medical knowledge in their area of expertise, and to implement changes, in
agreement with their colleagues, to improve care. Of particular important for
early diagnosis is the education of those in the front-line of care, such as
family physicians and primary health care professionals. They need to have basic
knowledge of breast cancer so they know what to look for during an examination
and when to refer onto specialists," he explained.
Dr. Farid Khalifa, Head of the Medical Oncology Department at Dubai Hospital
added: "Conferences where international and UAE specialists get together to
discuss best practices, and learn from each other, are very important for the
development of cancer care in the region. We will all go away having learnt
something from here, and having formed new allegiances, which will undoubtedly
help us to improve care in our own centers."
Examples of new updates on breast cancer care discussed at the conference
included a session looking at the latest data on the treatment of
post-menopausal women with endocrine responsive node-positive disease, following
surgery.
Data published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on the 19th of
August 2009 shows that treating this group with letrozole for five years
post-surgery reduces the risk of the disease spreading to other parts of the
body by 15% [1].
The drug also reduced the risk of patients' suffering a relapse of breast cancer
by 12%, compared with the patients receiving other types of drug treatment,
according to the data which was presented by Dr. Hamdy Abdul Azzim, Professor of
Clinical Oncology at Cairo University.
"The findings constitute a significant change in practice for those caring for
breast cancer patients in the region, as up to 60 percent of women with the
disease are node-positive. The high proportion of node-positive patients is
because women are generally diagnosed in our region when their disease is at a
more advanced stage," Dr. Azzim noted.
Source : AME Info
