KARACHI: Pakistan now has the highest prevalence of breast cancer in young women.

This alarming situation requires that a thorough investigation is conducted into the factors causing an increase in the number of breast cancer cases.

This was stated by Prof Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, the director of the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), Karachi University (KU), during his speech on the second day of 14th International Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry organised by the centre.

Sharing some statistics on breast cancer, Prof Choudhary said that the disease was the most common cancer in women worldwide, with nearly 1.7 million new cases diagnosed in 2014.

“Cases of breast cancer have increased significantly over the past two decades. This is the second most common cancer overall, representing about 12 per cent of all new cancer cases and 25pc of all cancers in women,” he said.

Samman Jamal and Prof Syed Ghulam Musharraf of the HEJ also spoke on the occasion.

Later, participants, including researchers from 35 countries, attended a cultural evening and gala dinner held in their honour.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2018