Dr Tara Washington

DOHA: The high incidence of breast cancer among younger women in Qatar is a phenomenon which can be attributed to the genetic make-up of the region's female population, a cancer expert told The Peninsula yesterday.

Speaking on the sidelines of 'The 21st-Century Approach in the Treatment and Prevention of Breast Cancer' conference which concluded yesterday, Dr Tara Washington, radiation oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, said: "Compared to the US, breast cancer in women in Qatar starts at ages around ten years younger. This is more likely because of the genetic factor and appears to be more common in this population."

Speaking on the conference in general, Washington said she was "impressed' with the turnout considering this is a conservative society. "The authorities are focusing on solving the problem and are sensitive to the issue. Of course, the prevalence of cancer is much smaller than in the US, due to this country's smaller population."

Advocating more frequent use of chemotherapy and hormone therapy, she also said that she would leave Qatar after having faced "intelligent questions" from the delegates and participants and with the realisation that there are different approaches to treatment.

"While on average, the onset of breast cancer is detected in the US at the age of around 40, that is not the case in Qatar," she said. Washington stated that a mammogram is the best way to detect breast cancer. In the US, physicians and medical facilities offer voluntary mammograms which she hoped is a trend that may soon catch on here. "Self-examination is not as perfect. With self-examination, detection of cancer can vary between 10 to 15 per cent vis-à-vis the 100 per cent detection rate with a mammogram."

The Karmanos Institute has about 300 investigators conducting research into the prevention, detection, treatment and causes of cancer. The research is organised within five inter-disciplinary programmes, which are recognised by the US' National Cancer Institute.

The programmes are breast cancer, developmental therapeutics, molecular biology and human genetics, population studies and prevention and proteases and cancer.