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Dubai: Breast cancer risks for women in the UAE range from one in ten to one in 500, due to a lack of genetic statistics in the region, according to a geneticist specialising in cancer.
Breast cancer is primarily detected here through breast self-examination, doctor's examination and mammograms.
Some women in the UAE detect their cancer late because they are unaware, too afraid or embarrassed to do the exam. Others who discovered the symptoms have kept quiet out of denial, embarrassment and fear.
According to the US National Cancer Institute, women who have the mutated BRCA 1 or 2 gene are three to seven times more likely to develop breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer, than the general populace. The likelihood of mutation depends on family history and ethnic background.
Risks
Dr Sanjida Ahmad, research director at Eastern Biotech, told Gulf News that no statistics were available for Arabs.
The Dubai-based company does DNA testing for the cancer gene. "We don't know the genetic risks for Arabs, because they are too afraid to be part of a genetic study," she said.
This means women will have to depend on available statistics, which include a five to ten per cent risk for women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, a one in 40 chance in women with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry and one in 500 chance in general.
Dr Sanjida said genetic testing could help these women as "mammograms and CT scans are diagnostic tests; they identify breast cancer only after you have developed the lump."
She said with genetic testing, women could catch the disease before it started, putting them on guard for any changes and helping them detect the disease at a very early stage.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime test. But not all doctors here are recommending this test, not like in the West," she added.
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