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Malaria, TB and HIV/Aids combined don’t results in as much death in the world as cancer, that’s according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). About 70 per cent of global cancer burden is in low- and middle-income countries like Kenya, where cancer is the third highest cause of funeral committees after infectious and cardiovascular diseases.
According to WHO, 30 per cent of cancers are curable (if detected early), 30 per cent of cancers are treatable with long-term survival if detected early, and 30 per cent of cancer patients can be provided with adequate palliative care on the back of 39,000 new cases being recorded in Kenya.
About 60 per cent of cancer patients are below 70 years, with breast and cervical cancer (women) and prostate and esophageal cancer (men) being the most common. Sadly, 70 to 80 per cent of cases are diagnosed in the late stages due to, among others, lack of awareness, inadequate diagnostic and treatment facilities, high cost of treatment and high levels of poverty.
Kenya has only four cancer radiation centres, all of which are located in Nairobi, where the less than five qualified radiation oncologists and less than 10 medical oncologists work. Other experts in this field include four paediatric oncologists, five radiation therapy technologists, three oncology nurses and two medical physicists, according to Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations.
While there is cancer of the brain, lungs, skin, blood and colon; did you know there are hardly any cases of heart cancer?
According to Time magazine (Answers Issue, August 2014), even leading hospitals in the world only receive an average of one patient per year with this rare condition. The reason our most precious organ is safe from cancer is that one; cancerous tumours grow when abnormal cells divide and multiply, but unlike cells in other organs, those in the heart don’t split and multiply.
In fact, the only time heart cells multiply is during the foetal stage and even then, they hardly form tumours.
Two, the ‘switch’ that controls the multiplication of heart cells turns off after birth and remains so.
Three, the heart comprises muscle cells which only expand in proportion to body size but don’t multiply.
And lastly, while heart cells don’t multiply, hence the reason there is no cancer of the heart, this means that heart tissues can’t regenerate when one suffers a heart attack!
