The global burden of women’s cancers: a grand challenge in global health

Abstract

Each year, more than 2 million women are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer, yet where a woman lives, her socioeconomic status and agency largely determines whether she will develop one of these cancers and will ultimately survive. In regions with limited resources, fragile or fragmented health systems, cancer contributes to the cycle of poverty. There are proven and cost-effective interventions for both these common cancers, yet for so many women access to these is beyond reach. These inequities highlight the urgent need for sustainable investments in the entire spectrum of cancer control, from prevention to palliative care, and in the development of high-quality population-based cancer registries, in low-and middle-income countries. In this first Series paper we describe the burden of breast and cervical cancer with an emphasis on global and regional trends in incidence, mortality and survival, and the impact, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged women in different settings.

Cervical Cancer Screening

“…Exposure to HPV infection especially 16 & 18 along with risk factors of early age in first intercourse, multiple sexual partners, and smoking and low socio economic status all make women more vulnerable to cervical cancer. 2 According to recent PDHS survey, women in Pakistan marry at a median age of 19.5 years and 8% of teenage pregnancy happen. 3 Extra marital sex is prevalent although not talked about much.…”

A Critical Review of Economic Evaluations of Trastuzumab in the Treatment of Early Stage HER2 Positive Breast Cancer

“…Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally [1,2]. Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer [1] and is the fifth leading source of cancer death [3].…”

“…Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer [1] and is the fifth leading source of cancer death [3]. The disease is more common in Northern Europe and North America than in other part of the world [4].…”

“…In the UK, approximately 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime [5]. Major risk factors for breast cancer include: female sex; increasing age; family history; reproductive factors (consisting of early menarche, late menopause, first live childbirth after age 30, nulliparity); long term use of hormone replacement therapy; previous exposure to therapeutic chest wall irradiation; benign proliferative breast disease; increased mammographic breast density; and genetic mutations (such as of the BRCA 1/2 genes) [1,6]. Factors determining treatment decisions include: tumour histology, clinical and pathological characteristics of the primary tumour, metastatic disease status, patient age, hormone receptor (estrogen and progesterone receptors) and HER2 status (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) [6].…”

“…Five-year relative survival rates have improved from nearly 75% between 1975 and 1979 to approximately 90% in 2010 [20] though these vary depending between specific types of breast cancer as well as on stage of diagnosis and access to care [1]. Improvements in survival, increased incidence and the adoption of more expensive therapies has seen the economic burden of breast cancer rise [21,22] both for health services and society more broadly [21].…”