Why breast cancer remains a death sentence in Africa

A new study published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine recently looked at global patterns and trends of breast cancer globally. According to the latest data shared by the World Health Organisation, in 2022 alone, about 1,800 women died daily from breast cancer worldwide. Dr Miriam Mutebi, an oncologist at Aga Khan University Hospital, one of the study’s authors noted: “One of the studies we are doing at the Aga Khan University is to look at the genetic composition of cancer. Usually, for you to get cancer, you sometimes have some genes that are either increased or decreased. If you look at the gene profile for African patients versus African-American versus patients who have a Caucasian ancestry, it's totally different. Africans also have a more aggressive type of cancer. Our younger age also makes us have the highest proportion of cancer cases and deaths under 50 in Africa. This is when women are at their most productive,” Dr Mutebi explained.