People in UAE are at an increased risk of Lung Cancer: caution leading oncologist

On occasion of World Lung Cancer Awareness month, leading oncologist reveals that lung cancer is becoming increasingly common amongst UAE population.

• Lack of awareness about the symptoms and causes of lung cancer leads to a late detection, lowering the chances of survival
• Smoking cigarettes and shisha have been identified as the leading risk factors. Passive smoking or constant exposure to an environment where people are smoking tobacco can be very harmful.
• People are urged to identify the early symptoms and seek medical advice so they can undergo the appropriate diagnostic tests to maximize the rate of their survival

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 24, 2013: Lung cancer is caused by the growth of abnormal cells in the lung forming tumors. As these tumors grow in size, they undermine the lung's ability to supply oxygen through the bloodstream. Most of these tumors tend to be malignant and spreads to the other parts of the body, causing the cancer to spread. According to World Health Organization (WHO), lung cancer is one of the leading cause of death, accounting for 1.37 million deaths globally.1 November being the World Lung Cancer Awareness month, Dr. Aref Chehal, Medical Oncology consultant, Mafraq hospital Abu Dhabi, encourages people to identify the early symptoms and undergo the appropriate tests so that the cancer can be diagnosed in the early stages, maximizing the chances of survival.

“We often receive cases, where the patients have delayed diagnosis due to ignorance of the symptoms and low awareness about the disease.

It is very important for people to identify the early symptoms like persistent coughing, chronic bronchitis, blood in the cough etc. and undergo immediate investigations. There are more chances to fight lung cancer successfully if it is detected at an early stage,” says Dr. Aref Chehal.

The most common symptoms of lung cancer are persistent coughing, pain in the chest, shoulder or back from coughing, change in the color of mucus, difficulty in breathing or swallowing, hoarseness of the voice, harsh sound while breathing, chronic bronchitis or pneumonia and coughing up blood. Physicians use common imaging techniques like chest X-rays, bronchoscopy (a thin tube with a camera on one end), CT scans, MRI scans, and PET scans to determine if the symptoms are caused by lung cancer.

Dr. Aref Chehal adds, “Main cause of lung cancer is the presence of carcinogens in the air. Tobacco, asbestos, arsenic, radiation such as gamma and x-rays, the sun, and compounds in car exhaust fumes are all examples of carcinogens. Majority of the cases are caused by carcinogens inhaled with tobacco smoke.”

Depending on the stage in which lung cancer is detected oncologists undertake suitable treatment path like surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and medications.

About Dr. Aref Chehal, MD, FACP: Dr. Chehal is a consultant of Medical Oncology/Hematology at Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He graduated from the college of Medicine at Baghdad University/Iraq. He did his Internal Medicine residency and his Hematology/Oncology fellowship at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Dr. Chehal is a member of many national and international societies including ASCO, ESMO, EHA. He had an important role in Tumor registry in Lebanon in 2002. Dr. Chehal acted as chairperson, moderators, and member of scientific committee in many local and international congresses. Dr. Chehal has 27 published articles in peer reviewed international journals; he is the first author on 9 of them, in addition to 29 abstracts.
He joined Mafraq hospital in 2006. His main interests are Lung cancer, Breast Cancer, GI malignancies and Lymphoma.