TEHRAN – The breast cancer awareness month (BCAM) is celebrated globally every October as part of a global effort to raise awareness on breast cancer, early detection, timely diagnosis, and treatment.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer globally with around 2.3 million new cases every year.

It represents one in eight cancer cases in both sexes and a quarter of all cancers in women with 70 percent mortality occurring in resource-constrained settings.

Based on the surveys conducted in the last 30 years, breast cancer has the highest prevalence, 12 percent, among women in Iran, constituting 26 percent of women's cancers.

In Iran, breast cancer is the second-leading cause of death in women as around 30 percent of patients die each year, nearly as much as the world average.

With the support of the World Health Organization, the national cancer control program has been developed, which sets out the Ministry of Health’s roadmap up to the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

The purpose of the program is to reduce cancer prevalence and mortality while improving the quality of patients’ lives, which can serve as a model for other countries, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The program includes two important documents, namely, “development of national cancer care network” and “development of cancer human resources”, which resulted in the establishment of the early diagnostic centers.

Earlier detection of cancer increases the chance of successful treatment and survival.

In this regard, the Iranian scientists’ efforts have yielded remarkable achievements.

On January 20, the Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) announced the development of a system based on artificial intelligence (AI) that can detect breast cancer with 94 percent accuracy.

The cancer detection system is said to be helpful in highly accurate and timely diagnosis of cancer.

In February, an Iranian knowledge-based company managed to produce a drug that is used for the treatment of breast and stomach cancers.

‘AryoTrust’ with the generic name ‘Trastuzumab’ costs about one-seventh of foreign products.

‘AryoTrust’ is one of the products that is being made domestically thanks to the efforts of this knowledge-based company. It has made the country practically self-sufficient in this regard.

Currently, AryoTrust is in phase four of clinical trials called post-marketing surveillance trial which looks for safety and adverse effects in unscreened patients over a long period of time.

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI) in 2021 to reduce mortality rates by 2.5% per year by 2040 to save 2.5 million lives through three key pillars of action on health promotion for early detection, timely diagnosis; and comprehensive breast cancer management.

Health system barriers and patient-level factors with low levels of awareness and knowledge are contributing to low uptake of early detection services, with resultant late-stage diagnoses and poor outcomes.

In many resource-constrained settings, breast cancer affects a relatively younger population significantly contributing to premature mortality and maternal orphans.

The initiative aims to raise awareness and drive behavior change, facilitate knowledge sharing and partnerships, support national adoption of WHO’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative, promote patient support, and address disparities.

It also provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to review progress, reflect and renew commitments in tackling the disease and to build momentum to address the existing disparities and challenges in access to breast cancer care. 

The theme for World Breast Cancer Day in 2024 is ‘No one should face breast cancer alone’. The theme emphasizes the critical role of patient-centered care, which encompasses medical, emotional, psychological, and social support through patient navigation systems.