Cancer is an often fatal disease that does not differentiate between young and old, rich and poor, men and women. Modern lifestyles have contributed to the spread of the disease with the exhaust from vehicles polluting the environment and people smoking and engaging in bad eating habits. Although the Kingdom is less affected by this disease than some other countries, cancer experts warn society of its danger and the physical and psychological effects it can have on those it strikes. In a room at the Oncology Center at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Jeddah, Ahmad, a seventeen –year-old boy lies in bed suffering from leukemia or blood cancer. He looks pale and tired and his hair has fallen out as a side effect of the chemotherapy sessions he has undergone. He said, “I first developed symptoms of this disease a year ago and I have been fighting it ever since because I don't want it to affect me psychologically as well as physically.” Cancer does not differentiate between young and old and Humaid Jumah was in his 60s when he found that he had a malignant tumor in his upper and lower jaw. He said that he thought he had a bad toothache and went to see a dentist who after a thorough examination told him that he needed more tests. The dentist took a sample from Jumah's gum and sent it to a histology lab. The lab report showed that he was suffering from cancer of the jaw, and doctors at the oncology center told Jumah that the disease was in an advanced stage and that they would need to surgically remove the tumor to stop its spread. Dr. Hasna Al-Ghamdi, Director of the Oncology Center at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Jeddah, said that the need to fight the disease necessitated the setting up of a specialist cancer center in the Western region to provide quality primary health care services for cancer patients. The center is run by a group of consultants specialized in cancer and hematology diseases and has a team which includes specialists, assistant doctors and technicians who have been working in the center since its establishment 19 years ago. The center, Dr. Al-Ghamdi added, is affiliated to King Abdul Aziz Hospital and has a capacity of 24 beds of which 12 beds are set aside for children. The center provides diagnostic and therapeutic services through its nuclear medicine department and has isotope, radiation and chemotherapy sections, she explained. Hospital's records show that doctors at the center saw about 7710 cancer cases in 2006 and in recent years the case load has increased to 8500- 9000 cases placing an increased burden on the diagnostic and therapeutic sections. Dr. Al-Ghamdi pointed out that in the past three years, the workload in the chemotherapy section has increased by 35 percent while the number of patients who receive radiation treatment has risen by 20 percent as compared to last year. Caring for cancer patients There are many organizations which have been formed to care for cancer patients. Fahd Al-Suliman, Director of Al-Iyman for Philanthropic Services and Caring for Cancer Patients in Jeddah, said, “The Society, which was founded in 1999, has spent millions of riyals in the form of assistance to patients suffering from cancer. The Society is in the process of constructing a SR 70 million center to look after patients suffering from the disease. The center, which will be constructed on an area of 5,000 sq m on Madina Road, will provide medical services of the latest international standards. We are going to secure the most advanced equipment for detecting and diagnosing the disease. Common types of cancer Dr. Mahmoud Shaheen, Professor of Oncology at King Abdul Aziz University and a member of the Saudi Cancer Register, assured people in the Kingdom of the availability of advanced medical facilities for the treatment of cancer. He said that according to the Saudi Cancer Register, the most common type of cancer in the Kingdom is breast cancer which is followed by colon cancer which affects both men and women. The Saudi Register shows that colon cancer is the most common type contracted by men followed by cancer of the lymphatic nodes, while breast cancer is the most common for women followed by cancer of the thyroid. “Currently we are engaged in the study of a genome map aiming to detect the genes responsible for breast and colon cancer,” Dr. Shaheen explained. He said that the Register indicated that the area of the Kingdom most affected by the disease is Riyadh, followed in order by the Eastern Province, Tabuk, Makkah and Jizan. One of the most important studies being conducted by the Register is the cause of death among patients suffering from the disease and the rate of mortality and morbidity. Dr. Shaheen pointed out that initial studies show that as Saudis become older they become more susceptible to contracting cancer and are more likely to die from the disease, and as the population of the Kingdom is expected to reach 30 million in 2030, there is likely to be an increase of people affected by the disease. Dr Shaheen explained that the world's pharmaceutical labs are currently developing more than 300 chemicals to be used in the treatment of cancer, adding “now we only have 10 chemical components for the treatment of breast and colon cancer, which, however, are effective despite their side effects”. Psychological factors Nadia Al-Ugail, a specialist at the Primary Health Care in Al-Ruwais, has appealed to families with children suffering from the disease to realize the importance of psychology in fighting the disease. Families must be supportive of children and not make them feel that they are useless, ineffective or unloved as the psychological factor plays a substantial role in the recovery process of the children suffering from cancer.
