High Rate of People Who Affected by Cancer in the Middle East - Essay Example

High Rate of People who Affected by Cancer in the Middle East Introduction Globally, cancer is feared as synonymous for suffering and death. In- depth researches are going on all over the world about incidence, treatment and prevention of cancer and it takes major share of the person’s and society’s health expenditure. Earlier, the people in the Middle East Countries were on the back of many European, Asian and US people. But the recent studies reveal that incidence and burden of cancer in Middle East Countries are comparable with those of European countries and US. By comparing the incidence and burden of cancer with oncology drugs sales, it has been shown that health care expenditure per cancer case in the Middle East countries is comparable to that in France and the UK.(Kasteng, Frida. Etal). Incidence of Cancer in the Middle East- Evidences from Empirical studies Middle East region is the home of ethnic and religious groups from three main backgrounds: Semitic (Jews and Arabs), Indo- European (Persians and Kurdish) Turkic (Turkmens and Turkish). The geographical location of Middle East has always been under the constant influences from Asia, Europe and Africa and because of this the region has become an ideal place for epidemiological studies. The study on gastric cancer rates in connection to epidemiological studies reveals that multi-factorial etiology of gastric cancer has to be investigated. The gastric cancer rate differs in the Middle East region from very high incidence in Iran to very low in Egypt and low in Israel (Hussein, Nawfal R, 2010). A case study reveals that the most prevalent cancers in the cities of Turkey were lung cancer, gastric cancer, larynx cancer, leukemia and breast cancer respectively and lung cancer is the most common death causing cancer in the region (Toprak, Dilek and Nurhan Dogan, 2006). Although the incidence of prostate cancer in the Middle East and North Americal region is not as high as that of West, the incidence of prostate cancer in the region will become more significant over the next 20 years as the population ages( www.jnccn.org/content/8/suppl_3/s-26.full). The highest frequencies of cancer among the men are found for lymphoma, bladder cancer and cancers of oral cavity in Egypt and for lung cancer, lukaemia and lymphoma in Gaza while for women the highest incidence rate is for breast cancer followed by oral cavity in Egypt and leukaemia and lymphoma in Gaza (Kahan, Enesto 1997). Incidence of different types of cancer in the Middle East- the case of MECC Due to the alarming rate of growth of incidence of cancer in the Middle East countries, a Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) was established in 1996 with an official co-operation of the Ministries of Health of Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The major objective of MECC is to reduce gradually the incidence and impact of cancer in these countries through collaborative research. By comparing the cancer incidence in Four Member Countries of the MECC with U.S SEER, a monograph was released by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The major findings of the monograph which throw light on the increasing incidence rate of cancer in the Middle East countries (National Cancer Institute, 2006), are relevant in this context. Among MECC population, Israeli Jews had substantially higher overall cancer incidence rates which are comparable with US SEER population while the Jordanians had lowest incidence rate. Cypriots, Israeli Arabs and Egyptians stand in the middle with intermediate overall cancer incidence rates. Though lung cancer incidence was lower in the MECC populations in comparison to US SEER population, the rates in Israeli Arab young men are more or less equal to US SEER rates. The Isreali Arab men younger than 60 are known to have high tobacco consumption and this might have attributed to high incidence rate of lung cancer. In the case of colorectal cancer, the Israeli Jews surpass the US SEER population and the incidence rate is more than twice as high as the other MECC populations. Further research on genetic and dietary/ environmental factors of these population is essential. The incidence of liver cancer rate among Egyptians are five to seven times higher than those of the other MECC populations while it is three times higher than that of US SEER population. The high incidence of liver cancer may be attributed to the high prevalence of hepatitis B and C or to contamination of food by aflatoxin, the toxin produced by the species of fungi. The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma is higher among Egyptians and Israeli Jews which is higher than in the US SEER and other MECC populations. In depth researches on the risk factors for this malignancy are essential in this region. Likewise, the rate of breast cancer incidence is high among Israeli Jews which is comparable to the US and the rate of incidence among young Israeli Jewish women below 55 is considerable higher than in the US population. This may be due to the prevalence of the genetic mutations in the BRCA genes among Ashkenazi young women. The esophageal cancer incidence in the MECC countries is among the lowest in the world and this is attributed to the low consumption of alcohol in the region. But the high prevalence of smoking tend to increase esophageal cancer rates and in this area further in-depth study is needed. The incidence of over all childhood cancer is higher among the Cyprus population than in the US SEER population and the other MECC populations. High rates of childhood leukemia and central nervous system malignancies are reported in Cyprus and childhood lymphoma incidence rate is also high in Egypt. Urinary bladder cancer rates are very high among Egyptians and Israeli Jews which are higher than the US SEER population. The high rate among Egyptians may partly be attributed to high rates of schistosomiasis. Concluding Remarks Among the Middle East countries, Egypt and Israel are found to be more cancer prone areas and it may be attributed to the changing life styles and increasing consumption of tobacco by the young. The incidence of all types of cancer are reported to be increasing in Middle East and now-a- days, the rates have become comparable with European countries and the US.The high incidence rates of cancer in the Middle East region may be attributed to the genetic and dietary/ environmental factors of these population, prevalence of hepatitis-B and C, increasing consumption of tobacco, contamination of food and changing life styles. References 1.Kasteng, Frida, Nils Wilking and Bgengt Jonsson. “Patient Access to Cancer Drugs in Nine Countries in the Middle East”. Extracted from www.comaratorreports.se/Middle%20East%20oncology%20drug%20uptake%20Final%20report%20Sept%2015%202008.pdf 1. National Cancer Institute. Cancer Incidence in Four Member Countries (Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Jordan) of the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) Compared with U.S. SEER. www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr2006/nci-27.htm 2. Hussein, Nawfal R. “ Helicobacter Pylori and Gastric Cancer in the Middle East: A new Enigma”?. World J Gastroenterol. 16.26.(1996).3226-3234. 3. Toprak, Dilek and Nurhan Dogan. “How Many People Have Cancer Patients (Alive or Deceased) in their Homes, in our city?”. Middle East Journal of Family Medicine. 6.8 (2006).15-17. 4. Kahan, Ernesto. “Cancer Patterns in the Middle East- Special Report from the Middle East Cancer Society”. Acta Oncologica. 36.6(1997). 631-636. Read More