Cancer, the disease that needs urgent checking

The move by President Joe Biden on plans to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 per cent over the next 25 years is praiseworthy. It is part of an effort to revive the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative to speed research and make more treatments available. The programme, an Obama administration initiative led by Biden when he was vice president, also aims to improve cancer detection and prevention. Biden’s son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46, something the president has said helps inform his and first lady Jill Biden’s passion for the project.

Biden said there are 200 different kinds of cancer caused by genetic mutations and the disease is still the “number two” cause of death in America, after heart disease. He also drew a contrast with COVID-19 saying that as the disease claimed over 800,000 American lives over the same period 1.2 million Americans have lost their lives to cancer. Cancer has not rested during the COVID-19 pandemic, as is evident by the number of people diagnosed with cancer since 2020. Research published by the National Institutes of Health suggests that delayed screening during the pandemic has led to thousands of deaths and make cancers more difficult to treat when they are discovered.

A COVID-19 infection also can disrupt treatment and further impact outcomes.  The statistics on this heart-breaking disease are alarming: a November 2016 report says that cancer will kill 5.5 m women per year by the year 2030. But how is the disease caused? Siddhartha Mukherjee, an Indian-American oncologist, best known for his exhaustive and lucid book on cancer, “The Emperor of All Maladies,” says in the foreword, “Cancer is a disease caused by the uncontrolled growth of a single cell. This growth is unleashed by mutations — changes in DNA that specifically affect genes that incite unlimited cell growth. In a normal cell, powerful genetic circuits regulate cell division and death. In a cancer cell, these circuits have been broken, unleashing a cell that cannot stop growing.”  The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also launched a plan: to tackle a severe shortage of cancer care capacity in many poorer countries.  

Stressing that time is of the essence in addressing a growing global cancer crisis, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the IAEA’s ‘’Rays of Hope’’ initiative on the eve of an African heads of state summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Of the African Union’s 55 members, more than 20 nations do not have a single radiotherapy machine.

Rays of Hope builds on the IAEA’s six decades of experience and expertise in nuclear science to diagnose and treat different types of tumours. It aims to mobilise financial resources and partners and to galvanise political will to step up the fight against a scourge killing many who could have been successfully treated with modern medical technology.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, a new blood test due could rule out cancer for 500,000 people a year, with the results back from the NHS within just two or three days.

The UAE is also waging a relentless drive to raise awareness on the disease. Under the wise leadership of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and Founder and Patron of the FOCP, and International Ambassador of the World Cancer Declaration for Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the FOCP has taken timely action to both save and improve the lives of those afflicted with cancer.

The FOCP alleviates the suffering of cancer patients and their families by offering financial, psychological and moral support by providing free treatment, care and follow-up. The Pink Caravan Ride breast cancer awareness campaign offers free medical screenings to thousands of citizens and residents.