Iraqi Initiative of a Regional Comparative Breast Cancer Research Project in the Middle East - Abstract
Breast cancer is the commonest malignancy among women in countries within the Eastern Mediterranean Regions (EMR). In Iraq, it comprises approximately one third of the registered female cancers. Other features that justify increasing efforts for breast cancer control in the EMR include the obvious rise in the incidence rates, the higher frequencies of younger ages and advanced stages at the time of presentation and
the likely prevalence of more aggressive tumors resulting in high mortality/incidence ratios.
At the level of national registration, most of the cancer registries of those countries lack data regarding tumour staging and mortality rates. In fact, within the hospital records, there is no proper documentation on critically important risk factors and clinical characteristics of the disease including stage distribution at the time of initial diagnosis, hormonal receptor status, proportion of women presenting with distant metastases,
treatment modalities and survival rates.
In an attempt to address the aforementioned information needs on the clinical profile of breast cancer patients, and emphasizing the role of research as one of the basic pillars in the adoption of the cancer control strategy, a “National Breast Cancer Research Program-NBCRP” was established in Iraq in 2009. In collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and WHO, the Iraqi researchers
developed a comprehensive information system for Iraqi patients diagnosed with breast cancer. Thereafter, that data base model was utilized to compare the demographic characteristics, clinicopathological presentations and management outcomes of breast cancer patients inhabiting selected countries in the EMR (so far Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt are included)