The tenth year of the Pink Caravan Ride (PCR), concluded in March this year, and a total of 11,007 men and women were screened for breast cancer. Reports from the tenth year tests have revealed a dip in the number of breast cancer cases with only six people tested positive for this year.
In 2019, 11 women in the 32 to 52 years age group tested positive out of a total of 7,200 people who underwent screening.
Reem bin Karam, Chairperson of PCR Higher Steering Committee, said, "The campaign has shown encouraging results as four of the six women of diverse nationalities who tested positive this year were in the early stages of cancer - one woman in Stage 1 and three in Stage 2. Only two women were in Stage 3, an advanced stage of the disease."
Reem bin Karam said "We believe that early detection and improving risk factor awareness are the cornerstones of saving lives. The significant reduction in the number of positive cases this year despite having recorded the highest number of screenings in PCR's 10-year history, points to the efficiency of the campaign's year-round awareness drives. In Sharjah alone, we tested 4,296 citizens and residents, including 3,448 women and 846 men, making it the highest number of tests we performed in a single emirate this year. In the other six emirates too, this edition of PCR received a stronger public response than ever before, which gives us enormous sense of satisfaction. As more people continue to avail of our free screening services, early detection of cases is significantly improving survival rates."
Reem bin Karam continued: "Our experience at PCR has shown us that the single greatest factor for survival of women at a moderate or high risk of developing breast cancer is the detection of tumours at an early stage as these are usually smaller in size and less likely to have spread to lymph nodes.Higher screening rates and lower incidence of positive cases further attests to the efficacy of PCR's breast cancer awareness campaign. While this is certainly motivating, we will not rest until we achieve our goal of zero detections in the coming years."