More than 1,600 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in Armenia every year. At the same time, an increase in the absolute number of registered cases does not necessarily indicate that the situation is worsening — the disease is being detected more frequently and at earlier stages. This was stated by Artur Avetisyan, Deputy Director of the V. A. Fanarjyan National Center of Oncology for Laboratory and Diagnostic Services, Nursing and Junior Medical Staff.
According to him, age remains one of the key risk factors: breast cancer is more common among women during menopause, and the likelihood of developing the disease increases with age.
Avetisyan noted that breast cancer is now being detected much more actively in Armenia. According to him, this is being driven by government programs, the work of doctors and greater public awareness.
The behavior of patients themselves has also changed. In the past, a woman might notice changes but not see a doctor because she had no pain or other symptoms. Later, women increasingly began seeking medical attention as soon as they noticed a suspicious symptom. Now doctors are observing another trend: women are coming in after undergoing preventive screening, during which the disease was detected before any symptoms appeared.
“Quality treatment is not when a patient finds their doctor or receives a quality drug. That is not the front line of the fight,” Avetisyan said. According to him, the fight against breast cancer begins when the disease is detected at an asymptomatic stage, when a woman has no complaints or signs of a tumor. After that, the healthcare system must ensure that the patient receives high-quality treatment.
Our Goal Is to Prevent Patients From Dying of a Disease That Can Be Successfully TreatedIt is impossible to completely prevent breast cancer from developing, but the main goal of the healthcare system is to prevent patients from dying of a disease that can now be successfully treated in many cases, Avetisyan explained. According to him, for more than five years, Armenia has been implementing a comprehensive set of measures aimed at early detection and improving access to breast cancer treatment. There are no precise calculations yet of how mortality from the disease has changed in the country, as evaluating the results requires time. At the same time, Avetisyan believes that significant progress has already been made.
He noted that Armenia started from a relatively unfavorable position, so the potential for reducing mortality may be greater here than in countries where systems for caring for patients with breast cancer were established earlier.
According to Avetisyan, the World Health Organization has set a goal of reducing breast cancer mortality by approximately 2.5% annually worldwide. For Armenia at this stage, it is particularly important to preserve the progress already achieved and continue working in line with modern standards.
The specialist identified population coverage as one of the key factors: the more women who participate in preventive examinations and early detection programs, the greater the chances of detecting the disease at a stage when it is more treatable. At the same time, breast cancer treatment is changing rapidly worldwide. According to Avetisyan, in the 21st century, doctors are increasingly treating not simply “breast cancer” as a single disease, but a specific tumor based on its biological characteristics.
Therefore, the specialist noted, what is more important today is not the number of drugs prescribed, but the ability to select the most precise targeted therapy suited to the characteristics of a particular tumor.
The Most Expensive Machine Is Useless If a Woman Does Not Reach ItBreast cancer screening coverage among women in Armenia remains below the desired level, particularly given the differences between Yerevan and the regions, Avetisyan said. “We are far from the desired picture, but we are moving forward in great strides,” he said, describing the situation with a specific example.
According to Avetisyan, if a particular community has 1,000 women in the target age group and all of them are offered mammography screening, around 30% may actually undergo the examination. At the same time, international data show that among 1,000 women in the target group, at least 20 cases of breast cancer can be expected to be detected. If only 30% of women undergo screening, doctors will be able to identify only about five of these cases. The other 15 women will continue living their normal lives without suspecting that they have the disease. “They will find out eventually, but they will find out much later,” the specialist noted.
Avetisyan stressed that this is why purchasing medical equipment alone is not enough. According to him, even the most expensive machine a government or medical institution can purchase will not produce results if a woman does not come for screening. Thus, one of the key conditions for an effective screening program is not only the availability of mammography machines and access to screening, but also women’s participation.
“I would like to ask all women to remember: a beautiful hairstyle, a trip to a nail salon or a beautifully chosen outfit are merely the decorations on the stage of life. What matters most is your health. Therefore, I urge you, dear women, with the same enthusiasm with which you make appointments for such procedures, and even with much greater responsibility, to undergo regular preventive examinations. Sometimes, it may even be enough to do so once every two years,” he concluded.
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