Early detection crucial for breast cancer management: Experts

11By Merve Aydogan and Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - Experts, including World Health Organization (WHO) officials in Türkiye, have emphasized the significance of early detection and timely diagnosis of breast cancer, one of the most common types of cancer among women.

As the world marks Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, Italy's Embassy in Ankara organized an awareness workshop.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, WHO Türkiye head Dr. Batyr Berdyklychev called the event "very useful."

"The World Health Organization (Türkiye) country office, (Turkish) Ministry of Health, national experts, academics and also the Italian Embassy supported this important event, which coincides with or is happening during October, which is the global Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” said Berdyklychev.

He said early detection, timely diagnosis and comprehensive breast cancer management were discussed at the workshop.

“We talked about all types of cancers, and that identifies possible areas for collaboration between all the present parties today,” he added.

Berdyklychev said the event is just one small contribution to raising awareness.

"We are working with the (Turkish) Ministry of Health on the finalization of new cancer control strategy,” the WHO official said.

- Screening before age 40

Women should get screened for breast cancer starting age 40, Berdyklychev said.

However, “if anyone has a history of breast cancer in the family, that puts the person in the risk group and for this category of individuals, early screening, early checkups are also recommended," he added.

WHO Noncommunicable Diseases and Life-Course officer Toker Erguder also stressed the importance of early diagnosis and emphasized the necessity of raising awareness.

"Every year, nearly 2.3 million women across the globe are diagnosed with breast cancer and unfortunately, 700,000 of them die," Toker told Anadolu Agency.

Toker said more than 7 million women in the last five years have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Through the events and activities on the occasion of Breast Cancer Awareness month, "WHO strives to decrease breast cancer by 2.5% until the year 2040 and save nearly 2.5 million women's lives," he said.

He said officials from the Turkish Health Ministry as well as Italy, and experts discussed ways to develop joint collaboration on tackling breast cancer.

Toker noted Italy's comprehensive diagnosis of cancer and Türkiye's success in treating cancer, and said the two countries along with WHO will closely cooperate on combating the disease.

- Strong Turkish, Italian ties

For his part, Italy's Ambassador to Ankara Giorgio Marrapodi expressed faith in bilateral cooperation between Italy and Türkiye and said the ties between the two countries "cannot focus just on strengthening economic ties or working together on political issues, but it must embrace every sector, from culture to research, from sports to health."

Citing the Italian Health Ministry's data on breast cancer, Marrapodi said the type of cancer has been the most diagnosed cancer among women in 2021.

"But the historical statistics also show that, since the end of the '90s, there has been a continuous trend towards a decrease in mortality from breast cancer (a reduction of almost one percent each year), attributable both to a greater diffusion of early diagnosis programs and to therapeutic progress," he said.