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UAE: More young women being diagnosed with breast cancer, doctors warn

A medic also noticed an increasing number of patients with no family history of the disease – suggesting environmental factors may play a larger role

In 2018, when Sifna, who was just 28 years old then, first felt a lump in her breast, she went to a doctor in her home town in India. She was dismissed without a proper check-up saying that she was too young to develop breast cancer.

“At the time, my younger son was 3 years old and I had breastfed him for a full two years,” she said. “I had done the same for my older son who was six at the time. The doctor said I had no risk factors and it was impossible for me to have breast cancer at this age.”

Her family then asked her to try naturopathy and other holistic treatments – something she continued doing for a month before going back to the doctor. “At the time I was diagnosed with advanced third stage cancer,” she said. “It was aggressive. The only good thing was that it had not spread to my other organs.”

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Doctors in the UAE are beginning to see an increasing number of younger women like Sifna developing breast cancer. “I am definitely seeing a trend of younger women being diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Dr Taghreed Almahmeed, Consultant Breast Surgeon at Al Zahra Hospital in Dubai.

“It's a concerning shift, as many of these women are in their 30s or early 40s, often balancing careers and raising young families. This trend has been a reminder of how crucial early detection and awareness is, even for younger women who may not consider themselves at risk.”

Raising awareness

However, according to Dr Tasneem Mohamad Nour Abu El Foul, Specialist General & Laparoscopic Surgery at Aster Hospital Sharjah, the reason for more younger people being diagnosed is better awareness. “Now we have a very well-educated population,” she said. “So that's why even younger ladies tend to go to hospitals. They go for regular check ups, or if they notice any changes, they will go immediately to their physician.”

She said she has treated one patient in her early 30s. “After an awareness campaign, she noticed a breast mass but she was really scared to go to the doctor,” she said. “But after repeatedly hearing about how detection and early diagnosis will cure the disease, and how early treatment has a very high success rate, she mustered the courage to come see me. She underwent her treatment and is now recovering just fine.”

Dr Tasneem said it was important for women to not be scared. “Eighty-five per cent of breast complaints and lumps are benign and not cancerous,” she said. “However, when any woman sees a change in her breast, she must immediately consult a doctor. It could be a discharge from the nipples or blood or even a change in the shape and contour of the breast. It is always better to get it checked.”

Aggressive forms of cancer

Dr Taghreed said she had also seen a worrying trend of aggressive forms of cancer in her patients. “I'm noticing a rise in more aggressive types, like triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancers,” she said. “Triple-negative breast cancer is a form that doesn't respond to common hormonal treatments, making it more challenging to treat. HER2-positive breast cancer, meanwhile, involves a specific protein that makes tumours grow faster, but it can be targeted with specialised therapies.”

She said she also saw an increasing number of patients with no family history of the disease – suggesting that environmental and lifestyle factors might be playing a larger role. “There's also a shift toward earlier detection, leading to more cancers being caught at early stages,” she said. “In addition, I'm seeing more women choosing preventive surgeries, like prophylactic mastectomies, particularly those who test positive for genetic mutations. This indicates a growing emphasis on risk reduction and a proactive approach to breast health."

After two years of treatment, which included a mastectomy and reconstruction surgery, Sifna was finally able to recover from the debilitating cancer. Despite having no family history and no risk factors, she developed the aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer. “The doctors even did a genetic mutation test to check if there was anything in my gene that caused cancer but everything was negative,” she said. In 2020, Sifna fulfilled her childhood dream of coming to Dubai and currently works as a teacher, here.

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