Goes Incan for timely detection of lung and prostate cancer

Laura Poy Solano

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday November 20, 2022, p. eleven

In order to prevent the high rate of incidence and mortality in cases of lung and prostate cancer in Mexico, medical specialists from the National Institute of Cancerology (Incan) presented timely detection programs for both diseases, which seeks to alert the population over 40 years of age on the risk of suffering from these diseases.

The head of the Incan, Abelardo Meneses García, indicated that each year 195,000 new cases of cancer of all types are identified in Mexico and 90,000 deaths occur, which is why they rank as the third cause of death nationwide.

Of every hundred deaths in our country, he explained, 20 are due to cardiovascular problems, 16 to complications related to diabetes and 14 to malignant tumors.

For this reason, he called on the population to join prevention strategies, since one of the main challenges is offer medical attention when it is still a curable condition and the most important thing is to prevent it, knowing risk factors, among which lifestyle stands out.

Marisol Arroyo Hernández, pulmonologist and coordinator of the Early Detection Program for Lung Cancer, and Miguel Ángel Jiménez Ríos, head of the Urology Unit and director of the Comprehensive Care Program for Prostate Cancer (OPUS), highlighted the importance of population, particularly those over 40, go to the doctor for any symptoms, but also carry out early detection tests.

In the case of prostate cancer, Jiménez Ríos indicated that from 2019, the start date of OPUS, to last October, 3,372 patients have benefited and timely detection was achieved in 75 percent of confirmed cases.

He explained that one of the goals is that let us not continue treating cases that arrive in very advanced stages of the disease, because in the Incan 7 out of 10 patients have an incurable disease and what we want is that 7 out of 10 patients are treated with the intention of being cured.

The same thing happens, Arroyo Hernández assured, with cases of lung cancer, in which an increased incidence is detected in women, both due to tobacco consumption and exposure to wood smoke.

Given the growing consumption of electronic cigarettes or vapers, We estimate that this type of cancer could increase, particularly among the young population, so prevention should be prioritizedhe emphasized.