TEHRAN –The sixth breast cancer screening program has been launched with the aim of raising public awareness and promoting the culture of prevention, timely detection, and treatment.

Concurrent with breast cancer awareness month (BCAM), celebrated globally every October, Motamed Cancer Institute initiated the sixth screening program, which commenced on the first of October and is scheduled to run for a month.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death and the most common cancer among women with around 2.3 million new cases every year. However, early diagnosis of cancer reduces treatment costs and increases the chance of successful treatment and survival.

The main objective of the campaign is to raise awareness and encourage self-care for women by encouraging them to refer to specialized centers and carry out routine tests and screenings.

In addition to periodic check-ups, various educational packages on self-care and early detection of breast cancer have been prepared to further train people.

Breast cancer in Iran

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.

Motamed Cancer Institute

In February, according to an assessment of the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, Motamed Cancer Institute was ranked first among all research centers in the field of cancer, both clinical and biomedical, throughout the country.

The institute also ranked second among all clinical research centers with independent funding and experience of more than 10 years, regardless of the subject of activity, IRNA reported.

Also, among the total of 833 private and government research centers under the Ministry of Health, the breast cancer research center of the Institute has been evaluated as one of the top 10 centers.

The European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) granted membership to Motamed Cancer Institute on March 11.

The EBMT Is a non-profit medical and scientific organization established in 1974 that hosts a unique patient registry providing a pool of data to perform studies and assess new trends.

It aims to be the connection between patients, researchers, and other stakeholders to anticipate the future of cellular and stem cell-based therapies.

The community of healthcare professionals is focused on innovation, research, and the advancement of these fields to save and improve the lives of patients with blood-related disorders.

The first bone marrow transplant in Iran was performed in the Iranian year 1396 (March 2017-2018).

MT/MG