File photo of a breast cancer awareness drive in Qatar. Image used for representation only.
Breast cancer has been recorded as the most common type of cancer in Qatar. However, the survival rate is relatively high due to the efficiency of diagnostic and treatment services provided to the patients, according to data released by the Qatar National Cancer Registry (QNCR) at the Ministry of Public Health.
The prevalence of breast cancer is recorded as 17.5 percent of all malignant cases in the country by QNCR in 2015, but the survival rate was high as 82.3 percent throughout 2013-2015.
In total 1,466 new cancer cases were diagnosed in 2015, among which 1,417 cases were malignant and 49 were in an initial stage.
This is the first set of data released based on QNCR, since its official launch in 2015 by the MOPH. The QNCR is meant to provide integrated national data on all cancer cases diagnosed in the country every year. It contains information sourced from all public and private health care providers.
The registry’s database is connected with relevant entities to ensure data is updated.
As for prevalence, breast cancer is followed by colorectal cancer with 10.23 percent. The prostate cancer was the third most common cancer with 6.77 percent among all malignant cancer cases. Among children until the age of 14, some 54 new cancer cases were diagnosed in 2015. Leukemia was found to be the most common type of cancer and it accounted for 46.3 percent of all pediatric cancers, followed by brain cancer.
Dr Salih Bin Ali Al Marri, at MOPH said that QNCR is an important achievement in Qatar’s fight against cancer and a vital source of information for policy makers and researchers.
“We need to intensify efforts to understand the burden of cancer as well as to continue measuring the efficiency of public health programmes and initiatives such as the National Cancer Screening Program. In addition we should also analyze the efficiency of treatment and services provided,” he added.
Further, according to QNCR, among all females, breast cancer was the most common malignancy, it was 39.41 percent of all female cancer cases, followed by the thyroid.
Among males, prostate cancer was more prevalent with 11.96 percent and it was followed by colorectal cancer. But unlike breast cancer cases, 68 percent of the colorectal cancer cases were diagnosed at an late stage.
Among Qataris 79 deaths were recorded due to cancer in 2015, which represents 30 percent of all deaths related to cancer. Breast was the most common cause as it reached 19 percent of the cancer deaths among Qataris, followed by lung with 16.46 percent and colorectal with 12.66 percent.
Amongst children until the age of 14 year of Qatari and 2 percent of all deaths were due to cancer. And 50 percent of cancer related deaths were due to brain tumors, according to QNCR.
According to the cancer staging system followed by American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), 66 percent of the cases in Qatar were diagnosed at early stage of the disease.
