Breast cancer survivors tell of success stories during lectures

Damascus, SANA- With courage in the face of breast cancer and the desire to overcome it and to move on, survivor stories were the strongest message of the Syrian Society for Breast Diseases in a series of lectures launched since the beginning of October to raise awareness of the early detection of breast cancer.

Speaking to SANA, Chairman of the Society Samia al-Kinj, who was diagnosed with breast cancer about 18 years ago through a mammogram image, has turned her illness into a motivation and a desire to reach all women and to educate them about early detection to avoid a strenuous journey of treatment, which prompted her to co-founded the association with a group of doctors in 2006.

“The early detection has saved me from a total mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, so I decided to convey this experience to the largest possible group of women in order to for them have the chance of recovery that I took,” al-Kanj said.
Al-Kanj remarks came during a lecture at the Church of Our Lady of Damascus.

During the lecture, Lamiaa al-Hossari who also beat a fourth-degree breast cancer 20 years ago, talked about her experience saying that it was a long journey of treatment that began with the discovery of the tumor, a complete mastectomy, ablation of the armpit lymph nodes, chemical and radiological treatment, and the worst moments of hair loss and confronting society. “But I beat cancer with the support of my family,’’ she says.

She pointed out that her experience gave her great strength and decided to support other patients through the Society, considering that the mental and moral state of the patient has an impact on the treatment.

In turn, hematology and tumor diseases doctor Maha Manashi said that only 10 percent of breast lumps are cancerous and that the mammogram scans reveal 90 percent of the cases which reduces the mortality rate by half and contributes to avoiding complete mastectomy and scraping of the armpit, indicating that the scan should be performed every two years after the age of 40.

These lectures are part of a national campaign to raise awareness of the early detection of breast cancer coinciding with the month of global awareness of the disease which provides free medical examinations and tests in dozens of health centers distributed in the provinces.

October is linked to the pink color to raise global awareness of the breast cancer, the most common cancer among women, with 2 million new cases worldwide in 2018, according to figures from the Global Fund for Cancer Research.

Locally, breast cancer is also classified as the most common cancer among women by 30 percent, according to the National Cancer Registry of the Ministry of Health, which provides free survey and treatment services to all its patients.

Manar al-Frieh/Manal