We have made enormous progress in raising awareness about breast cancer. October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, has helped bring conversations once surrounded by fear or stigma firmly into the mainstream. This progress deserves recognition. However, awareness achieves its greatest value when it leads to informed action and earlier detection.
The scale of the challenge is clear in the UAE. The latest UAE National Cancer Registry report recorded 1,445 cases of invasive breast cancer among women in 2023, making it the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women and accounting for 36.6% of all invasive cancers diagnosed in women that year.
But the number of women diagnosed tells only part of the story. Just as important is how early the disease is found. Recent research presented by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organisation’s specialised cancer agency, analysed 2,113 patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain between 2018 and 2023. It found that 42.3% presented with stage III or IV disease. There are encouraging signs, that proportion fell to 40.2% in 2023, reflecting continued efforts across the healthcare community, but the findings still offer an important indication of the late-diagnosis challenge. Too many women are still only receiving a diagnosis after their cancer has progressed.
This remains one of the most important opportunities to improve outcomes for women and their families across the region.
Timing of diagnosis
And with breast cancer, as with many cancers, the timing of diagnosis matters enormously.
The difference in outcomes can be significant. US National Cancer Institute data show five-year relative survival of 100% when breast cancer is localised at diagnosis, compared with 87.5% when it has spread regionally and 33.8% once it has spread to distant parts of the body. These are US population figures rather than Gulf survival rates, but they illustrate an important point: earlier detection can significantly improve the options, outcomes and confidence with which women navigate their treatment journey.
So perhaps the most important conversation we can have this October is not simply about breast cancer awareness, but how we think about health screening.
For many, healthcare remains reactive. Unless something has changed or becomes noticeable or painful, no health-check appointments are made. Yet preventive healthcare has become an increasingly important pillar of modern healthcare systems, including here in the UAE. Regular health checks help identify potential issues earlier, when intervention can often be more effective.
Mammography scans, therefore, should ideally become a much more ordinary part of women’s health over the age of 40, or as advised by doctors. Screening should be viewed not as a sign that something is wrong, but as a proactive step towards protecting long-term health and wellbeing.
National guidance on mammograms
In the UAE, national guidance advises women aged 40 and above to have a mammogram every two years. Women with additional risk factors, including family history or a known inherited genetic mutation, may be advised by their clinician to begin regular screening earlier.
The screening experience itself has evolved. Advances in breast imaging are giving clinicians increasingly sophisticated ways to examine breast tissue, while developments in mammography systems, image acquisition and clinical workflows are focused not only on diagnostic performance, but on the experience of the woman being screened.
As healthcare technology continues to advance, we have an opportunity to make screening more accessible, more efficient and more comfortable for patients.
That human side of innovation matters. If anxiety about the examination becomes one of the reasons a woman postpones screening, then making that experience as efficient, considerate and patient-centred as possible is part of the early-detection challenge too.
Access is equally important. The UAE has embedded breast cancer screening within its preventive health framework, while government and community initiatives have also provided free screening opportunities. The UAE’s continued investment in preventive healthcare and screening programmes demonstrates a strong commitment to improving health outcomes for its population. For example, Ministry of Health and Prevention campaigns with Pink Caravan have previously provided free mammograms for women aged 40 and above through screening centres and mobile clinics.
But technology, access and awareness can only take us so far.
True measure of success
October will once again turn our landmarks pink, fill our social feeds with reminders and encourage thousands of conversations about breast cancer. All of that has value. Yet the true measure of success is not how widely we discuss breast cancer, but how many women are empowered to take the next step and participate in screening.
Technology can help us see disease earlier. Health systems can make screening easier to access. Clinicians can help women understand their individual risk and the screening pathway that is right for them.
Families, communities, healthcare providers and employers all have a role to play in encouraging a culture of proactive health management.
Our opportunity now is to make taking that next step feel normal.
Because every earlier diagnosis represents an opportunity for more treatment options, better outcomes and greater peace of mind.
With greater awareness comes greater opportunity for earlier action, earlier diagnosis and, ultimately, better outcomes for more women across our communities.
And perhaps the most useful message we can share this October is also the simplest: Do not wait for symptoms to start the conversation about screening. Speak with your healthcare provider, understand your individual risk and take an active role in your health.
Vivek Kanade is Managing Director, Siemens Healthineers Middle East and Africa